1st Edition

Kenyan Running Movement Culture, Geography and Global Change

By John Bale, Joe Sang Copyright 1997
    228 Pages
    by Routledge

    228 Pages
    by Routledge

    1997 British Society of Sports History - Lord Aberdare Literary Prize for Sports History

    The record-breaking achievements of Kenyan athletes have caught the imagination of the world of sport. How significant really is Kenya in the world of sports? This book, the first to look in detail at the evolution and significance of a single sport in an African country, seeks to answer these and many other questions. Kenyan Running blends history, geography, sociology and anthropology in its quest to describe the emergence of Kenyan athletics from its pre-colonial traditions to its position in the modern world of globalized sport. The authors show the qualities of stamina and long distance running were recognized by early twentieth century travellers in east Africa and how modern running was imposed by colonial administrators and school teachers as a means of social control to replace the indigenous fold traditions.

    African Affairs- "An excellent monograph on the phenomenal success of Kenyan middle distance running which will be of interest to a wide readership including everyone with a serious interest in athletics from all over the world, scholars with a specialist interest in socio-cultural studies of sport and specialists in African Studies. Provides an exemplar for future scholarly work in comparative studies of sport and studies of the sports globalisation process."



    "...lavishly illustrated book..." The Geographical Journal"



    International Review for Sociology of Sport- " The book is an excellent example of the virtues of a multidisplinary approach to the cultural and social study of sport...an excellent study"



    The Sports Historian- "An excellent account of the emergence and development of Kenyan athletics. This carefully crafted text demonstrates, time and again, the socio-cultural determinants of sporting success...the authors provide a series of astutue historical geographical insights...This is a book that can rightfully claim to be both imaginative and path-breaking

    Biography

    Bale, John; Sang, Joe