People at Play

The essays in this collection address the interplay between sport and society from interdisciplinary perspectives. They discuss the historical processes through which sports have become a significant element of everyday social life since the late nineteenth century. The principal problematic of the book is sport’s encounters with colonialism and nationalism which have recast its role as a mobiliser of the public. Impact of this dynamic can be perceived in the functioning of social institutions as diverse as education and entertainment. Additionally, the book interprets the confluence of traditional and modern sport forms into the making of distinct sports cultures and identities, and the trajectories of the public’s development as fans, consumers and vanguards of sport. Although the book focuses on India, the themes covered resonate with other national contexts as well.

Written by well-known scholars in the field, the book is a valuable addition to the growing corpus of sport studies. This book will quench the thirst of students and scholars of history, cultural studies, sociology, as well as to anyone seeking a national perspective on the, political and economic salience of contemporary and traditional sport in India. Amitava Chatterjee is an Assistant Professor of History in Ramsaday College and a guest lecturer