John Nauright (editor) - Beyond C. L. R. James: Shifting Boundaries of Race and Ethnicity in Sports

In 1963 C. L. R. James published Beyond a Boundary, which has become one of the classic books ever written dealing with sport in general and race and sport in particular. We present this volume in memory of James and his pathbreaking work, in the hope of continuing the robust debate about the ways in which race and ethnicity are seen in and through sport, and the ways that race and ethnicity have been both barriers to participation and safe havens where sport can prosper.

The idea for this book began at the Beyond Boundaries Conference, which was the Third International Conference on Race and Ethnicity in Sport. The conference was held at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill, in Barbados, and was cosponsored by the Academy of International Sport at George Mason University. It was fitting that a conference exploring the question of boundaries, race, and ethnicity in sport was held at Cave Hill, where the original manuscript of Beyond a Boundarysome of which remains unpublishedis housed. Not only is there a cricket oval in the middle of the campus; but also Sir Frank Worrell, the first black captain of the West Indies cricket team, is buried at Cave Hill. The conference occurred on the fiftieth anniversary of Worrell's appointment as captain, and it was also the fiftieth anniversary of Muhammed Ali's (then Cassius Clay) gold medal in boxing at the Rome Olympics. We touched on a wide range of themes at the conference, which featured keynote presentations by Daryl Adair, Sir Hilary McD. Beckles, Ben Carrington, and Charles Fruehling Springwood. Some of the best material presented at that conference has been revised, updated, and presented here alongside other cutting-edge work on race and ethnicity in sport. We seek to explore beyond the boundaries set by C. L. R. James while staying true to the core principles that guided his work. These include ideas about social justice, colonial and postcolonial struggles, the role of culture and sport in society, and an understanding of the ways in which political economy, driven by capital and the state, impacts the shaping of identities and the subjugation of peoples.

We would like to thank both the University of the West Indies and the principal of the Cave Hill campus, Sir Hilary McD. Beckles, andGeorge Mason University and Peter N. Stearns for their support of the conference. We would also like to thank the contributors to this volume whose patience with us and with one another has sustained us in ensuring that this research sees publication. Thanks to the team at the University of Arkansas Press for their support of this project as well.

We hope students, colleagues, and the wider public will learn more about how race and ethnicity have both shaped sports participation and led to barriers being constructed to limit participation. We offer this volume as a tribute to C. L. R. James and to all the men and women who have struggled for a place on the field and to shift the boundaries to allow all to participate in sport and in other social activities on equal terms.