Description
Book SynopsisBy examining how the Olympic movement developed in Puerto Rico, Antonio Sotomayor illuminates the profound role sports play in the political and cultural processes of an identity that evolved within a political tradition of autonomy rather than traditional political independence.
Trade Review"Sotomayor gives undergraduate students and specialists an authoritative compendium of Puerto Rico’s politics during a period when the territory was billed as a regional showcase for the benefits of American power."—Reinaldo L. Román,
American Historical Review"Sports is a subject that has not been studied in depth in Puerto Rican historiography in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, and this book contributes to filling that void."—Felix R. Huertas Gonzalez,
Journal of American History"Well written, meticulously researched, and very timely, this book is highly recommended to both scholar and lay reader alike."—
Sport in American History"[
The Sovereign Colony is] a reading feast for Puerto Rican sport fans. . . . It contributes to the understanding of colonialism where the agency of colonial subjects is emphasized in their negotiations of power structures. . . . A must read for scholars of U.S. and Caribbean history."—Rosa Elena Carrasquillo,
Diplomatic History"An innovative approach to Puerto Rico's coloniality through the prism of sports. . . . This accessible account of Puerto Rican sport provides a great introduction to the complex issues of contemporary coloniality and will be an excellent addition to undergraduate collections."—B. A. Lucero,
Choice“How is it that Puerto Rico participates with a sovereign team in the International Olympic Games? The answer to that question and Puerto Rico’s sporting success in the Central American and Caribbean Games provides the fascinating subject for Antonio Sotomayor’s book. He explains the baffling and perplexing dimensions of international sport.”—William H. Beezley, author of
Judas at the Jockey Club and Other Episodes of Porfirian Mexico "Sotomayor's impressive volume says not only a great deal about the relationship between Puerto Rico and the US, but can be used in parallel to analyze similar colonial and territorial interrelationships within the geopolitics of global sport."—Matthew L. McDowell,
Spectacular Tableau“A highly readable book that invites us to rethink many familiar tenets about contemporary colonialism, adding an important dimension to the last quarter century’s debates on what constitutes a nation—and how sports may help fashion one.”—Francisco A. Scarano, professor of history at the University of Wisconsin–Madison
Table of ContentsList of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
List of Abbreviations
Introduction
1. Sport in Imperial Exchanges
2. The Rise of a Colonial Olympic Movement, 1930s
3. Legitimizing Colonial Olympism in a Colonial Nation, 1940s
4. The Commonwealth and the Search for Colonial Sovereignty through Olympism
5. A Cold War Playing Field in the 1966 Central American and Caribbean Games
6. The Eternal Overtime?
Notes
Bibliography
Index
