In addition to being an internationally recognised pioneer of sports history, Brian Stoddart has also been a leading thinker and influence in the field. That influence has crossed several areas of history, sociology, business, politics and media aspects of sports studies, and has drawn deeply upon his own training in Asian studies. His work has been characterised by cross-disciplinary work from the outset, and has encompassed some very different geographical areas as well as crossing from academic outlets to media commentary. As a result, his influential work has appeared in many different locations, and it has been difficult for a wide variety of readers to access it fully and easily. This volume draws together, in the one place for the first time, some of his most important academic and journalistic work. Importantly, the pieces are drawn together by an intellectual/autobiographical commentary that locates each piece in a wider social and cultural framework. This book was previously published as a special issue of Sport in Society
As Syria confronts an uncertain future, A House in Damascus seeks to balance the Western view with the lives and views of the everyday people living in the world’s oldest continuing capital city Drawn from the author's experiences occurring immediately before the 2011-2012 social and political upheaval, each story traces the Old City of Damascus and its people's present through the past, capturing the universal human element often missing from the strategic and political accounts. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Brian Stoddart is an Emeritus Professor of La Trobe University in Melbourne. Trained as a social historian, he now works as an international higher education reform consultant in countries such as Lao PDR, Cambodia, Jordan and Syria. www.professorbrianstoddart.com
This book explains how access to and use of land, water and language helped shape Andhra politics in India from 1850 down to the present day. After independence, the debate over land reform and policies on irrigation has shaped the fortunes of various governments, while the debate over the make-up of the language-based state has stimulated separatist movements like the one in support of Telangana. The book discusses how British innovations in irrigation in coastal Andhra in the mid-nineteenth century transformed the economy there from food crops to cash crops, and created new markets for local entrepreneurs. This stimulated increased education and social reform in the region, which in turn supported new politics in search of constitutional concessions. The drive for a Telugu language-based province then arose in concert, and those political resources were then used to determine local patterns down to independence. The 1930s ruse of the socialists, then the communist organisations, was an extension of land and water tax debates, which impacted the political nature of development — both before and after — independence. This is one of the first books on Andhra that recounts this story and is based on extensive archival research exploring the deep relationships between land, water, language and politics. It would be of primary interest to those studying modern nationalism in India, natural resource management, Indian politics and economic growth.
A great depression, worsening Anglo-Australian relations, the declining British Empire and the challenge from an Australia striving to find a national identity are the context which explain bodyline and its repercussions. Bodyline was a watershed in the history of cricket and politics were publicly seen as part of sport. This book offers a radical reappraisal of bodyline which challenges the official interpretations of the events, and places them in a unique social and political context. .
Madras in the 1920s. The British are slowly losing the grip on the subcontinent. The end of the colonial enterprise is in sight and the city on India's east coast is teeming with intrigue. A grisly murder takes place against the backdrop of political tension and Superintendent Le Fanu, a man of impeccable investigative methods, is called in to find out who killed a respectable young British girl and dumped her in a canal, her veins clogged with morphine. As Le Fanu, a man forced to keep his own personal relationship a secret for fear of scandal in the face British moral standards, begins to investigate, he quickly slips into a quagmire of Raj politics, rebellion and nefarious criminal activities that threaten not just to bury his case but the fearless detective himself. The first Detective Le Fanu Adventure, A Madras Miasma, tells a classic tale of murder, corruption and intrigue with a sharp eye on British colonial politics and race relations. It is a story that, like its main protagonist, has its heart firmly in the right place.
In the third installment of the popular Le Fanu Mystery series, set in 1920's colonial Madras, Le Fanu focuses on the disappearance of a senior Indian Civil Service officer and an apparently unrelated murder. The two incidents intertwine and the world weary detective is drawn into the worlds of indentured labor recruitment and antiquities theft..
Sports history offers many profound insights into the character and complexities of modern imperial rule. This book examines the fortunes of cricket in various colonies as the sport spread across the British Empire. It helps to explain why cricket was so successful, even in places like India, Pakistan and the West Indies where the Anglo-Saxon element remained in a small minority. The story of imperial cricket is really about the colonial quest for identity in the face of the colonisers' search for authority. The cricket phenomenon was established in nineteenth-century England when the Victorians began glorifying the game as a perfect system of manners, ethics and morals. Cricket has exemplified the colonial relationship between England and Australia and expressed imperialist notions to the greatest extent. In the study of the transfer of imperial cultural forms, South Africa provides one of the most fascinating case studies. From its beginnings in semi-organised form through its unfolding into a contemporary internationalised structure, Caribbean cricket has both marked and been marked by a tight affiliation with complex social processing in the islands and states which make up the West Indies. New Zealand rugby demonstrates many of the themes central to cricket in other countries. While cricket was played in India from 1721 and the Calcutta Cricket Club is probably the second oldest cricket club in the world, the indigenous population was not encouraged to play cricket.
“We are not worth more, they are not worth less.” This is the mantra of S. Brian Willson and the theme that runs throughout his compelling psycho-historical memoir. Willson’s story begins in small-town, rural America, where he grew up as a “Commie-hating, baseball-loving Baptist,” moves through life-changing experiences in Viet Nam, Nicaragua and elsewhere, and culminates with his commitment to a localized, sustainable lifestyle. In telling his story, Willson provides numerous examples of the types of personal, risk-taking, nonviolent actions he and others have taken in attempts to educate and effect political change: tax refusal—which requires simplification of one’s lifestyle; fasting—done publicly in strategic political and/or therapeutic spiritual contexts; and obstruction tactics—strategically placing one’s body in the way of “business as usual.” It was such actions that thrust Brian Willson into the public eye in the mid-’80s, first as a participant in a high-profile, water-only “Veterans Fast for Life” against the Contra war being waged by his government in Nicaragua. Then, on a fateful day in September 1987, the world watched in horror as Willson was run over by a U.S. government munitions train during a nonviolent blocking action in which he expected to be removed from the tracks and arrested. Losing his legs only strengthened Willson’s identity with millions of unnamed victims of U.S. policy around the world. He provides details of his travels to countries in Latin America and the Middle East and bears witness to the harm done to poor people as well as to the environment by the steamroller of U.S. imperialism. These heart-rending accounts are offered side by side with inspirational stories of nonviolent struggle and the survival of resilient communities Willson’s expanding consciousness also uncovers injustices within his own country, including insights gained through his study and service within the U.S. criminal justice system and personal experiences addressing racial injustices. He discusses coming to terms with his identity as a Viet Nam veteran and the subsequent service he provides to others as director of a veterans outreach center in New England. He draws much inspiration from friends he encounters along the way as he finds himself continually drawn to the path leading to a simpler life that seeks to “do no harm.&rdquo Throughout his personal journey Willson struggles with the question, “Why was it so easy for me, a ’good’ man, to follow orders to travel 9,000 miles from home to participate in killing people who clearly were not a threat to me or any of my fellow citizens?” He eventually comes to the realization that the “American Way of Life” is AWOL from humanity, and that the only way to recover our humanity is by changing our consciousness, one individual at a time, while striving for collective cultural changes toward “less and local.” Thus, Willson offers up his personal story as a metaphorical map for anyone who feels the need to be liberated from the American Way of Life—a guidebook for anyone called by conscience to question continued obedience to vertical power structures while longing to reconnect with the human archetypes of cooperation, equity, mutual respect and empathy.
The story about baseball's being invented in Cooperstown, New York, in 1839 by Abner Doubleday served to prove that the U.S. national pastime was an American game, not derived from the English children's game of rounders as had been believed. The tale, embraced by Americans, has long been proven false but to this day, Cooperstown is celebrated as the birthplace of baseball. The story has captured the hearts of millions. But who spun that tale and why? This book provides a surprising answer about the origins of America's most durable myth. It seems that Abner Graves, who espoused Cooperstown as the birthplace of the game, likely was inspired by another story about an early game of baseball. The stories were remarkably similar, as were the men who told them. For the first time, this book links the stories and lives of Graves, a mining engineer, and Adam Ford, a medical doctor, both residents of Denver, Colorado. While the actual origins of the game of baseball remain subject to debate and study, new light is shed on the source of baseball's durable creation myth.
As Syria confronts an uncertain future, A House in Damascus seeks to balance the Western view with the lives and views of the everyday people living in the world’s oldest continuing capital city Drawn from the author's experiences occurring immediately before the 2011-2012 social and political upheaval, each story traces the Old City of Damascus and its people's present through the past, capturing the universal human element often missing from the strategic and political accounts. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Brian Stoddart is an Emeritus Professor of La Trobe University in Melbourne. Trained as a social historian, he now works as an international higher education reform consultant in countries such as Lao PDR, Cambodia, Jordan and Syria. www.professorbrianstoddart.com
I was recently in a brainstorming session with market research and R&D managers at a Fortune 50 client. The marketing manager turns to the R&D technical lead and asks, “can you give me a list of all possible technologies out there?” She was speaking the language of high level summary of the universe of possibilities. The technical lead, on the other hand, translated it as “give me information on the technologies we are capable of delivering in the near future.” Simple miscommunication? Little business impact? Not if you’re trying to stretch the innovation possibilities and the R&D lead disqualifi es longer term technologies because they’re not ready now. That’s one reason why innovation at some companies looks like the same old stuff re-packaged.
After serving in the Vietnam War, S. Brian Willson became a radical, nonviolent peace protester and pacifist, and this memoir details the drastic governmental and social change he has spent his life fighting for. Chronicling his personal struggle with a government he believes to be unjust, Willson sheds light on the various incarnations of his protests of the U.S. government, including the refusal to pay taxes, public fasting, and, most famously, public obstruction. On September 1, 1987, Willson was run over by a U.S. government munitions train during a nonviolent blocking action in which he expected to be removed from the tracks. Providing a full look into the tragic event, Willson, who lost his legs in the incident, discusses how the subsequent publicity propelled his cause toward the national consciousness. Now, 23 years later, Willson tells his story of social injustice, nonviolent struggle, and the so-called American way of life.
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