Books by Cathal Kilcline
Sport and Society in Global France - Table of Contents, 2019
From Zinedine Zidane to Michael Jordan and from Marie-José Pérec to Lance Armstrong, over the las... more From Zinedine Zidane to Michael Jordan and from Marie-José Pérec to Lance Armstrong, over the last thirty years, numerous individuals have emerged through the global sports industry to capture the imagination of the French public and become touchstones for the discussion of a host of social issues. This book provides new insights into the evolution of the global sporting spectacle through a study of star athletes, emblematic organisations, key locations and celebrated moments in French sport from the mid-1980s to the present day. It draws on a wide range of sources, from film, television, advertising, newspapers and popular music to cover key developments in sports including football, motor sport, basketball and cycling. Sport here emerges as a privileged site for a discussion of the nature of contemporary nationhood, as well as for the performance of France’s postcolonial heritage. Simultaneously, sport provides a platform for the playing out of concerns over globalisation and, in a time of post-industrial uncertainty, for nostalgic reminiscences of an apocryphal bygone era of social cohesion. The exploration of these themes leads to new understandings of the ways in which sport influences and is implicated in broader social and cultural concerns in France today.
Sport and Protest: Global Perspectives, 2018
Sporting mega-events habitually spawn protests from local groups discommoded by the building of n... more Sporting mega-events habitually spawn protests from local groups discommoded by the building of new infrastructure, environmental lobbies contesting the long-term legacies of such events, and expressions of outrage at the expenditure of public funds on events often restricted to an elite selection of participants and spectators. Are these protest movements ever successful in preventing sporting events from taking place or in modifying their nature, or even in drawing attention to social issues? Or are they inevitably destined to be ignored in the popular fervour and financial windfall that accompanies such events? Similarly, sporting events have occasionally been the site of iconic moments of political protest. Tommie Smith’s and John Carlos’ ‘Black Power’ salute at the Mexico Olympics in 1968, for example, remains one of the abiding symbols of resistance to oppression expressed in a sporting context. What is it about sport that lends itself to these kinds of protests? Are these protests effective in accelerating change in society or does the sporting context ultimately serve to trivialize important social issues? Here we endeavour to respond to some of these questions and thereby illuminate the evolving political, economic, environmental and cultural implications of sport in society.
Papers by Cathal Kilcline
Liverpool University Press eBooks, Mar 1, 2019
This chapter considers a selection of the key touchstones for nostalgic reminiscence in French sp... more This chapter considers a selection of the key touchstones for nostalgic reminiscence in French sport, including the Tour de France cycle race and Saint-Étienne football club, and analyses what these reveal in regards to public memories of, and hopes for, sport and society generally. In this analysis, the ‘legends’ and ‘epics’ of France’s sporting past are frequently set against a backdrop of a utopian era of industrial triumph and working-class solidarity, distinct from the globalized information age of today. Nostalgia for this era, and its associated champions, values and aesthetics are increasingly being mobilised to promote sporting events and sell sportswear today.
Liverpool University Press eBooks, Mar 1, 2019
Recent years have seen a proliferation of sport-themed cultural, artistic, commemorative and peda... more Recent years have seen a proliferation of sport-themed cultural, artistic, commemorative and pedagogical productions that interpret and illuminate identitarian debates in France, particularly in relation to immigration and ethnic diversity. This chapter analyses a series of these exhibitions, monuments and texts, demonstrating the relevance of sport in the contemporary commemorative landscape. It points to evolutions in the processes of memory-making globally, and explores how the mediatisation and aesthetics of sporting practices may relate to these developments.
HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe), Oct 19, 2012
International audienc
Liverpool University Press eBooks, Mar 1, 2019
The popularity of the Paris-Dakar rally in the 1980s drew on both a growing market for new advent... more The popularity of the Paris-Dakar rally in the 1980s drew on both a growing market for new adventure sports in France and nostalgia for colonial-era narratives of desert exploration. Since its inception, the event has provided a spectacle of motorised speed, physical suffering, technical prowess and logistical expertise, set against a backdrop of splendid scenery. The race has also been criticised for transforming some of the poorest locations in the world into a playground for a (predominantly) Western and wealthy elite and for the death toll that it has incurred in its wake. Such criticisms followed the rally along its various African itineraries and on its transposition to South America in 2009. In its early versions, the Paris-Dakar was the vehicle for the nostalgic re-enactment of French colonial-era exploits in Africa, and the subject of virulent criticism for its neo-colonial connotations and material effects. The contemporary ‘Dakar’ emerges in this analysis as a demonstration of the ‘deterritorialising’ potential of the sports-media nexus, with its opponents attesting to its contribution to the global disenfranchisement of local communities.
Liverpool University Press eBooks, Mar 1, 2019
As television revenues boosted the financial rewards to clubs and players since the mid-1980s, Eu... more As television revenues boosted the financial rewards to clubs and players since the mid-1980s, European football has become one of the very few routes for (a very small minority of) young Africans to access previously unimaginable wealth. Linguistic affinities and pre-existing networks have facilitated the flow of African talent to France in a process accelerated by the plethora of ‘academies’ set up in Africa. Whilst abiding representations of immigration in French sport focus on the glorious achievements of star sportspeople, and on the communal and national pride generated by their accomplishments, a growing body of literature concentrates on the disappointment, failure and exploitation of sporting migrants. This chapter demonstrates how ‘la Françafrique’, the asymmetrical nature of exchanges that characterises France’s neo-colonial relationship with its former colonies in Africa, functions in a sporting context. The role of certain French institutions and individuals in African football is demonstrated to be a factor in the ‘extraterritorialisation’ of African football. The contemporary directions and forms of sports-related migration are also shown to inflect a series of ‘psychodramas’ that have afflicted French football in recent times.
Sport and Society in Global France
As television revenues boosted the financial rewards to clubs and players since the mid-1980s, Eu... more As television revenues boosted the financial rewards to clubs and players since the mid-1980s, European football has become one of the very few routes for (a very small minority of) young Africans to access previously unimaginable wealth. Linguistic affinities and pre-existing networks have facilitated the flow of African talent to France in a process accelerated by the plethora of ‘academies’ set up in Africa. Whilst abiding representations of immigration in French sport focus on the glorious achievements of star sportspeople, and on the communal and national pride generated by their accomplishments, a growing body of literature concentrates on the disappointment, failure and exploitation of sporting migrants. This chapter demonstrates how ‘la Françafrique’, the asymmetrical nature of exchanges that characterises France’s neo-colonial relationship with its former colonies in Africa, functions in a sporting context. The role of certain French institutions and individuals in African ...
Sport and Society in Global France
As a sport that originated in North America, basketball is a privileged site for the study of tra... more As a sport that originated in North America, basketball is a privileged site for the study of transatlantic sporting exchanges. In France, since the mid-1980s, basketball has evolved as a practice and spectacle in line with changes in the game in the United States, and particularly in the foremost professional league of the NBA. Particular attention is paid to the basketball craze of the early 1990s, when clothing companies and the NBA attracted a new public to the sport in France. This had consequences for the demographics of basketball, the meanings associated with the sport, the style of play, and ultimately for the game in America, as increasing numbers of non-American (and especially French) players now populate the NBA. Basketball emerges in this chapter as an important example of French responses to American-led commercialization of sport and American-led globalization more generally.
Sport and Society in Global France
The popularity of the Paris-Dakar rally in the 1980s drew on both a growing market for new advent... more The popularity of the Paris-Dakar rally in the 1980s drew on both a growing market for new adventure sports in France and nostalgia for colonial-era narratives of desert exploration. Since its inception, the event has provided a spectacle of motorised speed, physical suffering, technical prowess and logistical expertise, set against a backdrop of splendid scenery. The race has also been criticised for transforming some of the poorest locations in the world into a playground for a (predominantly) Western and wealthy elite and for the death toll that it has incurred in its wake. Such criticisms followed the rally along its various African itineraries and on its transposition to South America in 2009. In its early versions, the Paris-Dakar was the vehicle for the nostalgic re-enactment of French colonial-era exploits in Africa, and the subject of virulent criticism for its neo-colonial connotations and material effects. The contemporary ‘Dakar’ emerges in this analysis as a demonstrati...
Sport and Society in Global France, 2019
This chapter considers a selection of the key touchstones for nostalgic reminiscence in French sp... more This chapter considers a selection of the key touchstones for nostalgic reminiscence in French sport, including the Tour de France cycle race and Saint-Étienne football club, and analyses what these reveal in regards to public memories of, and hopes for, sport and society generally. In this analysis, the ‘legends’ and ‘epics’ of France’s sporting past are frequently set against a backdrop of a utopian era of industrial triumph and working-class solidarity, distinct from the globalized information age of today. Nostalgia for this era, and its associated champions, values and aesthetics are increasingly being mobilised to promote sporting events and sell sportswear today.
Sport and Society in Global France, 2019
Recent years have seen a proliferation of sport-themed cultural, artistic, commemorative and peda... more Recent years have seen a proliferation of sport-themed cultural, artistic, commemorative and pedagogical productions that interpret and illuminate identitarian debates in France, particularly in relation to immigration and ethnic diversity. This chapter analyses a series of these exhibitions, monuments and texts, demonstrating the relevance of sport in the contemporary commemorative landscape. It points to evolutions in the processes of memory-making globally, and explores how the mediatisation and aesthetics of sporting practices may relate to these developments.
French Cultural Studies, 2014
This special issue deals with a range of sporting activities and discourses and discusses structu... more This special issue deals with a range of sporting activities and discourses and discusses structural evolutions in media − specifically how these evolutions have influenced the development of sports as practice and spectacle. Moreover, these articles consider how different forms of media have contributed to the construction of identities of sportswomen and sportsmen in France and the Francophone world, and also how media representations of sport and sporting icons have contributed to and been influenced by wider debates about (national) identity and ideas of community. This collection will analyse local, national and transnational contexts in which relations between sports media and identity have evolved, and are still evolving, in France and the Francophone world.
The International Journal of the History of Sport, 2017
Abstract Sporting mega-events habitually spawn protests from local groups discommoded by the buil... more Abstract Sporting mega-events habitually spawn protests from local groups discommoded by the building of new infrastructure, environmental lobbies contesting the long-term legacies of such events, and expressions of outrage at the expenditure of public funds on events often restricted to an elite selection of participants and spectators. Are these protest movements ever successful in preventing sporting events from taking place or in modifying their nature, or even in drawing attention to social issues? Or are they inevitably destined to be ignored in the popular fervour and financial windfall that accompanies such events? Similarly, sporting events have occasionally been the site of iconic moments of political protest. Tommie Smith’s and John Carlos’ ‘Black Power’ salute at the Mexico Olympics in 1968, for example, remains one of the abiding symbols of resistance to oppression expressed in a sporting context. What is it about sport that lends itself to these kinds of protests? Are these protests effective in accelerating change in society or does the sporting context ultimately serve to trivialize important social issues? Here we endeavour to respond to some of these questions and thereby illuminate the evolving political, economic, environmental and cultural implications of sport in society.
The International Journal of the History of Sport, 2008
French Cultural Studies, 2014
In terms of media coverage and sporting achievement, Marie-José Pérec dominated French athletics ... more In terms of media coverage and sporting achievement, Marie-José Pérec dominated French athletics over the course of the 1990s. Pérec’s performances on and off the track produced a vast corpus of written and audiovisual material that illuminates abiding themes in French public discourse during this period, in particular attitudes towards money, fears regarding American-led globalisation, and the role of the media in society. As triple Olympic and double World champion, Pérec is enshrined among the pantheon of contemporary national heroes. Through the example of Pérec, this article investigates the construction of sporting heroes in contemporary France, shedding light on the multiple meanings that were associated with the athlete throughout her career and discussing in particular how her physical appearance, material wealth and mobility were implicated in this process.
... Richard D. Mandell, University of South Carolina Wray Vamplew, Flinders University of All Maz... more ... Richard D. Mandell, University of South Carolina Wray Vamplew, Flinders University of All Mazrul, University of Michigan and South Australia University of Jos, Nigeria James Walvin, University of York Alan Mctcalfe, University of Windsor, Canada David C. Young, University of ...
International Journal of The History of Sport, 2017
Sport and Society in Global France
The Qatar Investment Authority, the sovereign wealth fund of the Persian Gulf Emirate, has chosen... more The Qatar Investment Authority, the sovereign wealth fund of the Persian Gulf Emirate, has chosen Paris as the primary sporting destination for its oil-generated wealth, purchasing the Paris Saint-Germain football club and Paris Handball through Qatar Sports Investment (QSI). QSI’s general director is also in charge of Al-Jazeera Sport, which, through the subscription channel beIN SPORT, presently holds broadcasting rights to the French football league. In this fashion, Qatari investors make use of their association with the Paris ‘brand’ – the city’s international reputation as the ‘city of light’ and its related cultural capital – to project a positive image of Qatar globally. This wielding of ‘soft power’ ultimately serves to legitimise Qatari investment in non-sporting domains and appropriates elements of France’s sporting landscape to further its geopolitical aims.
Uploads
Books by Cathal Kilcline
Papers by Cathal Kilcline