Kay Schaffer

The Olympics at the Millennium: Power, Politics, and the Games Kay Schaffer

Marc Notes: The cultural politics of the Games: the emergence of women athletes as cultural commodities, the orchestrated spectacles...; Cloth @ $55.00. Biographical Note: KAY SCHAFFER is an associate professor in the department of Social Inquiry at the University of Adelaide, Australia. She is the author of several books, including "Women and the Bush." SIDONIE SMITH is professor of English and director of Women's Studies at The University of Michigan. She has written many books, including "Women on the Move: Twentieth Century Travel Narratives and Technologies of Motion." Both Schaffer and Smith co-edited (along with Jennifer Sabbioni)" Indigenous Australian Voices: A Reader "(Rutgers University Press) Publisher Marketing: The Olympics thrill the world with spectacle and drama. They also carry a cultural and social significance that goes beyond the stadium, athletes, and fans. The Games are arenas in which individual and team athletic achievement intersect with the politics of national identity in a global context. "The Olympics at the Millennium" offers groundbreaking essays that explore the cultural politics of the Games. The contributors investigate such topics as the emergence of women athletes as cultural commodities, the orchestrated spectacles of the opening and closing ceremonies, and the alternative sport culture offered via the Gay Games. Unforgettable events and decisions are discussed: Native American athlete Jim Thorpe winning--and losing--his two gold medals in 1912. Why America was one of the few countries to actually send Jewish athletes to the "Nazi Olympics." The disqualification of champion Ewa Klobukowska from competing as a woman, due to chromosomal testing in 1967. With the 2000 Sydney Games imminent, several essays address concerns with which every host country must contend, such as the threat of terrorism. Highlighting the difficult issues of racism and nationalism, another article explores the efforts of this country's aboriginal people to define a role for themselves in the 2000 Games, as they struggle with ongoing discrimination. And with the world watching, Sydney faces profound pressure to implement a successful Olympics, as a matter of national pride. Review Citations:

Choice 03/01/2001 pg. 1307 (EAN 9780813528205, Paperback)

Reference and Research Bk News 11/01/2000 pg. 53 (EAN 9780813528205, Paperback)

Choice 03/01/2001 pg. 1307 (EAN 9780813528199, Hardcover)

Contributor Bio:  Schaffer, Kay Kay Schaffer is a recently retired Professor with a Personal Chair in Gender Studies, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, at the University of Adelaide. Sidonie Smith is the Martha Guernsey Colby Collegiate Professor of English and Women's Studies and Chair of the English Department at the University of Michigan. Contributor Bio:  Smith, Sidonie The author is Martha Guernsey Colby Collegiate Professor of Women's Studies and English at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and a past president of the Modern Language Association. Contributor Bio:  Guttmann, Allen Allan Guttmann is author of "From Ritual to Record: The Nature of Modern Sports", "Sports Spectators", and "The Games Must Go On: Avery Brundage and the Olympic Movement". Contributor Bio:  Eisen, George GEORGE EISEN is Professor and Coordinator of Sociocultural Study and Sport and Play at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. He is the author of "Children and Play in the the Holocaust" (1988), a Choice Outstanding Academic Book of the Year, and "Understanding Leisure" (1990), as well as numerous articles in "The Journal of Sport History, Play & Culture", "The International Journal of the Sociology of Sport", "Journal of Sport & Social Issues", and many others. Contributor Bio:  Lopiano, Donna Jodi Buren is a portrait photographer whose work has appeared in Sports Illustrated, Time, Newsweek, The New York Times, and Life. While on assignment for Sports Illustrated, Jodi was moved by the spirit and energy of a team of women basketball players and their fans. Inspired by this passion for women in sport, Ms. Buren began shooting SuperWomen. She lives in a 1790 farmhouse in Westchester, New York with her husband and son. Donna Lopiano, a nine-time All-American in softball and the former Director of Women's Athletics at the University of Texas, Austin, is currently the Executive Director of the Women's Sports Foundation, a charitable educational organization dedicated to ensuring equal access to participation and leadership opportunities for all girls and women in sports and fitness. Contributor Bio:  Tomlinson, Alan Alan Tomlinson is Professor of Leisure Studies and Director of Research in the Research & Graduate College of Sport, Chelsea School, University of Brighton, UK. He is the author of "Sport and Leisure Cultures" and "A Dictionary of Sports Studies". Contributor Bio:  Miller, Toby Toby Miller is a British-Australian-US interdisciplinary social scientist. He is the author and editor of over 30 books, has published essays in more than 100 journals and edited collections, and is a frequent guest commentator on television and radio programs. His teaching and research cover the media, sports, labor, gender, race, citizenship, politics, and cultural policy, as well as the success of Hollywood overseas and the adverse effects of electronic waste. Miller's work has been translated into Chinese, Japanese, Swedish, German, Turkish, Spanish and Portuguese. He has been Media Scholar in Residence at Sarai, the Centrefor the Study of Developing Societies in India, Becker Lecturer at the University of Iowa, a Queensland Smart Returns Fellow in Australia, Honorary Professor at the Center for Critical and Cultural Studies, University of Queensland, CanWest Visiting Fellow at the Alberta Global Forum in Canada, and an International Research collaborator at the Centre for Cultural Research in Australia.