Populism in Sport, Leisure, and Popular Culture

This book examines and establishes the sociological relevance of the concept of populism and illuminates the ideological use of sport, leisure, and popular culture in socio-political populist strategies and dynamics. The first part of the book - Themes, Concepts, Theories - sets the scene by reviewing and evaluating populist themes, concepts, and theories and exploring their cultural-historical roots in and application to cultural forms such as mega-sports events, reality television programmes, and the popular music festival. The second part - National Contexts and Settings - examines populist elements of events and regimes in selected cases in South America and Europe: Argentina, Brazil, Greece, Italy, and England. In the third part - Trump Times - the place of sport in the populist ideology and practices of US president Donald Trump is critically examined in analyses of Trump's authoritarian populism, his Twitter discourse, Lady Gaga at the Super Bowl, and populist strategy on the international stage. The book concludes with a discussion of the strong case for a fuller sociological engagement with the populist dimensions of sport, leisure, and popular cultural forms. Written in a clear and accessible style, this volume will be of interest to sociologists and social scientists beyond those specialising in popular culture and cultural politics of sport and leisure, as the topic of populism and its connection to popular cultural forms and practices has come increasingly into prominence in the contemporary world.

Bryan C. Clift is a Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in the Department for Health at the University of Bath, UK, where he is the Director of the Centre for Qualitative Research. Alan Tomlinson is Professor of Leisure Studies at the University of Brighton, UK, and has written widely on sport, leisure, and popular culture in their sociological and historical contexts.

PART 1: Themes, Concepts, Theories 1. Populism, Sport, Leisure, and Popular Culture: Setting the Scene 2. Whither "The People?": Populism, Ideology and the Contested Politics of Sport 3. Populist Elements of SINGO Discourse and Practice: Unravelling the Undercurrents of the Popular Cultural Event 4. Neuro-liberalism: Enterprise, Gender, and the Marketing of the Self 5. The Radical Populist Pitch of U2's (2009-2011) '360°' Tour PART 2: National Contexts and Settings 6. Blame Games: Sport, Populism and Crisis Politics in Greece 7. From Fascism to Five Stars: Sport, Populism and the Figure of the Leader in Italy 8. Sport, Music, and Populism in Brazil 9. Dilma Rousseff, Brazilian Cultural Politics, and the Rio 2016 Olympics: Left in Lula's Wake 10. Populism and Sports in Latin America: Old and New Ways of Narrating the Nation 11. Populism and Political Motives for Hosting the FIFA World Cup: Comparing England 1966 and Russia 2018 PART 3: Trump Times 12. Blue Collar Billionaire: Trumpism, Populism and Uber-Sport 13. A Tale of Two Twitterstorms: The NFL, Donald Trump, and Digital Populism 14. The Gaga and the Global: American Double Articulation at Super Bowl LI 15. Art of the Deal: Donald Trump, the 2026 FIFA Men's World Cup, and the Geopolitics of Football Aspiration 16. Afterword: A Sociological Future for Populism?