Sport and Politics in Africa
Sport and Politics in Africa
- Michelle SikesMichelle SikesDepartment of Kinesiology and the African Studies Program, The Pennsylvania State University
Summary
African politics have always had a significant effect on sport, despite cherished mantras that sport and politics are mutually exclusive. Conversely, sport has played a meaningful role in the politics of African nations, from nation-building to widening foreign policy options, to making national alliances of countries that may not have otherwise supported each other, particularly with respect to the anti-apartheid struggle. Twentieth-century African politics have been a laboratory for the testing and ultimate debunking of the long-standing notion that African sport (or any human activity) exists in a vacuum, apart from the political realities of the culture within which it exists.
Keywords
Subjects
- Groups and Identities
- History and Politics
- World Politics
