Olimpismo

About

The Olympic Games are a phenomenon of unparalleled global proportions. This book examines the rich and complex involvement of Latin America and the Caribbean peoples with the Olympic Movement, serving as an effective medium to explore the making of this region. The nine essays here investigate the influence, struggles, and contributions of Latin American and Caribbean societies. By delving into nationalist political movements, post-revolutionary diplomacy, decolonization struggles, gender and disability discourses, and more, they define how the nations of this region have shaped and been shaped by the Olympic Movement.

Editors

Antonio Sotomayor is associate professor and Librarian of Latin American and Caribbean Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is the author The Sovereign Colony: Olympic Sport, National Identity, and International Politics in Puerto Rico, winner of the José Toribio Medina book award.

Cesar R. Torres is professor in the Department of Kinesiology, Sport Studies, and Physical Education at The College at Brockport, State University of New York. He is a former president of the International Association for the Philosophy of Sport, the founding president of the Asociación Latina de Filosofía del Deporte, and a fellow in the National Academy of Kinesiology.

Reviews

“This volume provides a much-needed text for students and scholars of the Olympics, and of Latin America in general, and offers a road map for other scholars interested in exploring the Olympic Movement in Latin America. … [T]he quality of research and writing is consistently high, and all of the chapters contribute meaningfully to the literature in the field.”
—Kevin Witherspoon, Journal of Olympic Studies, Spring 2023

“[Olimpismo] is a super book, full of stimulating detail and ideas, and I highly recommend it to all scholars of sport in Latin America and the Caribbean in fields from history to cultural studies, from sociology to philosophy.The book confirms the editors’ proposal that ‘the Olympic Movement in Latin America and the Caribbean serves as an effective medium to explore the making of these societies.’ … Some of the contributions to the book are startlingly original.”
—Matthew Brown, Hispanic American Historical Review, May 2022

“It is not unusual for historians and social scientists to present the history of Latin America and the Caribbean as a footnote in world history. A common procedure is first to examine the history of the United States and Europe and then look back to Latin America to explain many of the sociocultural and political phenomena of the region. More often, the agency of Latin America in the making of international order is simply neglected. In the past years, however, growing numbers of scholars are trying to change this approach by examining Latin American history through its own lenses. The book Olimpismo, edited by Cesar Torres and Antonio Sotomayor, follows the emergence and consolidation of this movement. In this sense, the book is a great contribution not only to the history of sports literature but also to understanding the role of Latin America in the making of twentieth-century history.”
—Luiz Guilherme Burlamaqui, Journal of Sport History, Volume 48, Number 1, Spring 2021

“The publication is a landmark for Olympic Movement studies in Latin America and the Caribbean. The book is interesting, easy to read, and highly informative.”
—Marcia De Franceschi Neto-Wacker, The Journal of Olympic History, Volume 28, Number 2 (2020)

Praise

“This original and important collection of essays offers an additional lens for the analysis of Latin America and the Caribbean and sheds new light on the intersection of sports, politics, nation-building, and identity formation.”
—Raanan Rein, Sourasky Professor of Latin American and Spanish History, Tel Aviv University

Contents

Sport Policy, the YMCA, and the Early History of Olympism in Uruguay – Shunsuke Matsuo

Enthusiastic Yet Awkward Dance Partners: Olympism and Cuban Nationalism – Thomas F. Carter

Olympic Diplomacy and National Redemption in Post-revolutionary Mexico – Keith Brewster and Claire Brewster

The Nationalist Movement and the Struggle for Freedom in Puerto Rico’s Olympic Sport – Antonio Sotomayor

Adhemar Fereira da Silva: Representations of the Brazilian Olympic Hero – Fabio De Faria Peres and Victor Andrade de Melo

Solving “the Problem of Argentine Sport”: The Post-Peronist Olympic Movement in Argentina – Cesar R. Torres

Un compromiso de tod@s: Women, Olympism, and the Dominican Third Way – April Yoder

Dis-assembling the Logocentric Subject at the Paralympic Games: The Case of Colombian Powerlifter Fabio Torres – Chloe Rutter-Jensen

In Search of the Olympic Games’ Future Significances: Contributions from Buenos Aires, Mexico City, and Rio de Janeiro – Lamartine Pereira Dacosta

Conclusion – Christopher Gaffney

Series

Sport, Culture, and Society seeks to promote a greater understanding of the aforementioned issues and many others. Recognizing sport’s powerful influence and ability to change people’s lives in significant and important ways, the series focuses on topics ranging from urbanization and community development to biography and intercollegiate athletics. It includes both monographs and anthologies that are characterized by excellent scholarship, accessible to a wide audience, and interesting and thoughtful in design and interpretations. Singular features of the series are authors and editors representing a variety of disciplinary areas and who adopt different methodological approaches. The series also includes works by individuals at various stages of their careers, both sport studies scholars of outstanding talent just beginning to make their mark on the field and more experienced scholars of sport with established reputations.