Internationalism and Sport in the Making of Nations

It has been suggested that nationalism is becoming obsolete as a result of globalization and that the role of sports in the making of nations is weakening. Global sport has presented fundamental challenges to local and national sport, but it has also created the opportunity for sport to be more international. The role of sport in terms of reconciliation is rarely mentioned within contemporary discussions of global sport, power, and culture; the same is true for sports' contribution to the process of anti-globalization. This article begins to address both of these issues while at the same time questioning the simplicity of framing contemporary sport purely in global or local terms, which for this author at least is deemed to be a false choice.