Professor Carly Adams of the University of Lethbridge is the editor of an interesting and highly relevant textbook on the history of sport in what is now Canada. This textbook is intended primarily for undergraduate students and, as such, can be handily used as a basis for structuring a course on sports and sports practice in Canada. However, it should not be assumed that only undergraduate students will benefit from this textbook. The various chapters offer a decolonial perspective, and both sport researchers and graduate students will benefit from consulting the work of the contributors. In addition, in the preface, Adams emphasizes that sport and recreation practices are contextualized and, therefore, act as a locus of socialization that either reproduces or challenges systems of oppression based on gender, race, or class. In other words, sports, as well as the historical narratives that recount their evolution and transformation, are shaped by broad sociopolitical issues.The first two of the fifteen chapters of the book are methodological in nature. The first one, by Adams, reaffirms the importance of sport as a tool to understand societies better, as well as an agent of sociopolitical, cultural, and economic change. The next chapter, “Method and Theories in Historical Research,” introduces students to the ABCs of historical research and the importance of taking into account the context in which historical sources are produced, as well as the narratives that have been made from these sources. Chapters 3 to 14 are essentially case studies dealing with the place and representation of Indigenous peoples in the development of sport in Canada (Chapters 3 to 5), the impact of industrialization and environmental concerns (Chapter 6); the influence of colonial, nationalist, and imperialist ideologies in the evolution of sport (Chapters 7 to 9 and 13), and the “Sports-Media Complex” as a means of producing and disseminating a Canadian culture of “settler colonialism” (Chapter 12).Chapters 10 and 11 offer a more inclusive reading of history with respect to race issues, while Chapter 14 looks at Canadian nongovernmental organizations involved in the promotion of sport both at home and abroad. Finally, Adams takes up the pen again, this time accompanied by Braden Te Hiwi, to offer a fifteenth and final chapter by way of conclusion. This chapter offers a general reflection on the need to set aside the colonial perspective of historical narratives to bring all the necessary nuances to a complex history.While the approach taken by Adams and the seasoned contributors assembled here is not new in itself, one of the hallmarks of this book is a strong interest in all sports and recreational practices, not just hockey, which remains the subject of much work by Canadian sport historians. In addition, there is a strong focus on Aboriginal activities, practices, and athletes, who are still the most neglected in Canadian history despite significant efforts over the past two decades to include their past in the historical narrative. Sport and Recreation in Canadian History, thus, tries to establish a historical dialogue among the various ethnocultural communities that populate the Canadian territory around the issue of sport, which continues to create a very powerful social and community link. To do so, Adams and her collaborators undertake a rereading of the dominant narrative and propose a history of sport that is emancipatory and inclusive while being attentive to the mechanisms of power and exclusion inherited from a Canadian culture that has—and sometimes still does—defined itself, in large part, on the basis of colonial relationships.
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Nov 18, 2024
Emilie Maine + 2
Open Access