The Politicisation of Sport in Modern China

The Politicisation of Sport in Modern China: Communist and Champions is the first book in English which examines in chronological order key issues in sport in the People's Republic of China from 1949 to 2012 in the context of Chinese history, politics and society. It explores the complexity of Chinese sport including the sovietisation of Chinese sports policy and practice; the emergence of the 'two Chinas' issue; the Cold War, the Cultural Revolution, sports diplomacy and sports militarism; China's turbulent journey of participation in the Asian Games and in the Olympics; the politics and policy of doping and anti-doping in Chinese sport; and China's sport in the post-Beijing Olympics era. By analysing the relationships between sport, diplomacy, politics and social transformation in China, the book examines how sport has played an important role in China's rise in the 20th and 21st centuries, and how China embraced the Olympic Movement and also influenced the world through the Olympic Games. Featuring major events, original documents and interviews with a wide breadth of insiders - from sports policy makers, Olympic medallists and ordinary Chinese - this book, for the first time, provides a comprehensive guide to the history of sport in the People's Republic of China. It is a fascinating book for academic researchers, general readers and students. This book was published as a special issue of the International Journal of the History of Sport.

Professor Fan Hong is the Head of the School of Asian Studies at University College Cork and an academic editor of The International Journal for the History of Sport. Dr Lu Zhouxiong is Lecturer of Contemporary Chinese Studies in the School of Languages and Cultures at the National University Ireland Maynooth.

1. Representing the New China and the Sovietisation of Chinese sport (1949-1962) 2. Sport, militarism and diplomacy: training bodies for China (1960-1966) 3. Sport in the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) 4. Sport and politics in the 1980s: the Olympic Strategy 5. China, the Asian Games and Asian politics (1974-2006) 6. From Barcelona to Athens (1992-2004): 'Juguo Tizhi' and China's quest for global power and Olympic glory 7. The politics of doping and anti-doping in Chinese sport 8. Beijing's two bids for the Olympics: the political games 9. The politicisation of the Beijing Olympics 10. China's sports policy and politics in the post-Beijing Olympics era