Anthropology in Sporting Worlds: Knowledge, Collaboration, and Representation in the Digital Age

To do anthropology in a sporting world, one must reckon with the digital. As digital technologies become more widespread and increasingly sophisticated, people develop new ways to use them when playing, watching, and learning sport. This volume adds to the growing literature in the Anthropology of Sport by framing key debates in the light of this digital context. More importantly, the authors articulate how apparently trivial contexts such as sport are crucial for exploring the ways human beings incorporate digital technologies in their everyday lives.

From taekwondo in Argentina to horse-riding in Morocco, the contributors to this volume explore a diverse range of sports across a variety of global locales. Through insightful ethnography, they show how fundamental elements of sport, including movement, competition, and values are increasingly mediated by digital technologies. Whether it is Sri Lankan cricketers analysing their practice frame-by-frame, English youth swimmers curating their Instagram feeds, or women footballers navigating urban spaces safely in Brazil, such examples indicate the diverse relationships that exist between sport and the digital. Throughout, the authors reflect on issues around knowledge, collaboration, and representation and consider their implications for undertaking anthropological work. This reveals how the fundamental relationship between anthropologist and interlocutor continues to change in the digital age.

This book will be of interest to both students and scholars in anthropology and the social sciences, including sociology, sports sciences, cultural studies, geography, and history. The nuanced yet accessible discussion of method will be useful for students preparing to undertake ethnographic work, while the contribution to theoretical debates will aid researchers exploring sport and/or the digital. The international scope of this volume, combined with the broad scope of the arguments therein, ensure a wide appeal for many readers.

Sean Heath is an MSCA Postdoctoral Fellow in Anthropology at KU Leuven. He has carried out extensive research amongst swimmers in the UK, Canada, and Norway, exploring the entangled relationships between water, the senses, and place.

Benjamin Hildred is a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Department of Anthropology at Durham University, UK. He has examined cricket in post-war Sri Lanka, and is exploring the broader relationship between sport and social change.

Henrike Neuhaus is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Anthropology and Art at the Natural Resources Institute, University of Greenwich. Their interests lie in researching Latin America, Taekwondo, knowledge transmission, care and audiovisual methods.