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Pitch Battles
Sport, Racism and Resistance
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#BlackLivesMatter protests and campaigns for gender equality highlight how systemic racism and inequality have for so long been inextricably intertwined with sport. No more so than the 'Stop the Seventy Tour' campaign led by Peter Hain which forced the unprecedented cancellation of the whites-only South African cricket tour of England in 1970.
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Description
“There will be a black Springbok over my dead body.”
— Dr Danie Craven, President of the South African Rugby Board, 1969
Just a year after the controversial D’Oliveira affair, the organised disruption of the all-white 1969/70 South African rugby and cricket tours to Britain represented a significant challenge to apartheid politics. Led by future cabinet minister Peter Hain, the ‘Stop the Seventy Tour’ campaign brought about the cancellation of both tours, presaging white South Africa’s expulsion from the Olympics and the end of apartheid sport altogether.
With his brand of attention-grabbing, direct action sports protest, the 19-year-old Hain emerged as a hero to some and enemy to others. Now, reflecting on these experiences with fifty years of hindsight, Lord Hain, together with South Africa’s foremost sports historian and fellow anti-apartheid activist André Odendaal, shows how decades of relentless international and domestic campaigning for equality led to a Springbok team captained by black athlete Siya Kolisi winning the 2019 Rugby World Cup.
Interspersing a wide range of examples with personal testimony, Pitch Battles explores the themes of sport, globalisation and resistance from the deep past to the present day. Published in the same year as the Stop The Tour documentary from acclaimed director Louis Myles, this compelling story of sacrifice, struggle and triumph reveals how sport should never be divorced from politics or society’s values.
— Dr Danie Craven, President of the South African Rugby Board, 1969
Just a year after the controversial D’Oliveira affair, the organised disruption of the all-white 1969/70 South African rugby and cricket tours to Britain represented a significant challenge to apartheid politics. Led by future cabinet minister Peter Hain, the ‘Stop the Seventy Tour’ campaign brought about the cancellation of both tours, presaging white South Africa’s expulsion from the Olympics and the end of apartheid sport altogether.
With his brand of attention-grabbing, direct action sports protest, the 19-year-old Hain emerged as a hero to some and enemy to others. Now, reflecting on these experiences with fifty years of hindsight, Lord Hain, together with South Africa’s foremost sports historian and fellow anti-apartheid activist André Odendaal, shows how decades of relentless international and domestic campaigning for equality led to a Springbok team captained by black athlete Siya Kolisi winning the 2019 Rugby World Cup.
Interspersing a wide range of examples with personal testimony, Pitch Battles explores the themes of sport, globalisation and resistance from the deep past to the present day. Published in the same year as the Stop The Tour documentary from acclaimed director Louis Myles, this compelling story of sacrifice, struggle and triumph reveals how sport should never be divorced from politics or society’s values.
Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?
Pitch Battles is acclaimed for its insightful analysis of the role sports played in dismantling apartheid in South Africa. It highlights how pivotal sports were in confronting and undermining institutional racism, with significant impact on societal change.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9781786615220
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Format: Hardback
Date Published: 08 December 2020
Country: United Kingdom
Imprint: Rowman & Littlefield International
Illustration: 15 BW Illustrations
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 13.0mm
Width: 152.0mm
Height: 229.0mm
Weight: 454g
Pages: 480
About the Author
Peter Hain spent his childhood in South Africa. After his anti-apartheid parents were jailed, banned and forced into exile in Britain, he led campaigns to stop all-white Springbok and other all-white sports tours, later becoming a Labour MP and Cabinet Minister, then a member of the House of Lords and author of over twenty books.
André Odendaal is Honorary Professor in History and Heritage Studies at the University of the Western Cape. A former first-class cricketer and anti-apartheid activist, he is author or co-author of a dozen books on the social history of sport and the history of the liberation struggle in South Africa.
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Pitch Battles
“There will be a black Springbok over my dead body.”— Dr Danie Craven, President of the South African Rugby Board, 1969 Just a year after the controversial D’Oliveira affair, the organised disruption of the all-white 1969/70 South African rugby and cricket tours to Britain represented a significant challenge to apartheid politics. Led by future cabinet minister Peter Hain, the ‘Stop...Paperback$4832Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks
Also by Peter Hain
View all-
Pitch Battles
“There will be a black Springbok over my dead body.”— Dr Danie Craven, President of the South African Rugby Board, 1969 Just a year after the controversial D’Oliveira affair, the organised disruption of the all-white 1969/70 South African rugby and cricket tours to Britain represented a significant challenge to apartheid politics. Led by future cabinet minister Peter Hain, the ‘Stop...Paperback$4832Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
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