The History and Politics of Motor Racing

This book explores the history and politics of motor racing, one of the most popular and lucrative elements in the international sport industry. Written by a group of international scholars and motor racing specialists it discusses the sport's origins, the relationship of motor racing to nation building and modernity (noting its links to fascism and dictatorship), the links between motor racing and the automobile industry, motor racing and the politics both of gender and of race, motor racing, the media and postmodernity, and motor racing, the spatial and globalization. This book speaks to scholars in history, politics, sport studies, the sociology of sport, sport management and cultural studies, along with the many lay readers who are interested in the relationship between motor sport and society.

1. Introduction.- SECTION I: THE ORIGINS OF MOTOR SPORT. 2. ‘The Origins of Motor Sport in France: Sites of Racing Memory.- 3. The long winding road to stability and innovation. The politics and development of the World Rally Championship.- SECTION II: THE EARLY POLITICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF MOTOR RACING - 4. Racing and Racism: German Motorsport and the Third Reich.- 5. Henry Ford and the Rise of US Motorsport .- 6. ‘The Fascist Race Par Excellence’: Fascism and the Mille Miglia.- 7. Vargas, Perón and Motor Sport: a Comparative Study of South American Populism.- SECTION III: MOTOR RACING AND THE AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY - 8. Politics, Motor Sport and the Italian Car Industry, 1893-1947.- 9. British Motor Sport and the Rise of the Garagisti.- SECTION IV: MOTOR RACING AND THE POLITICS OF GENDER.- 10. It Was Ironic He Should Have Died in Bed: Racing Drivers, Masculinity and the Politics of Safety.- 11. From Power Puff to W Series: The Evolution of Women-Only Racing.- 12. The Awkward Gender Politics of Formula 1 as a Promotional Space. The ‘Grid Girls’ issue.- SECTION V: MOTOR RACING AND THE POLITICS OF RACE - 13. A Political and Economic Analysis of South Africa’s Historical Relationship with Formula One Motor Racing, 1934–1993.- 14. Recovering the Black Geographies of Motorsports: The Counter-Mobility Work of NASCAR’s Wendell Scott.- 15. Can the Formula One Driver Speak? Lewis Hamilton, Race and the Resurrection of the Black Athlete.- SECTION VI: MOTOR RACING, THE MEDIA, AND POSTMODERNITY - 16. Formula One as Television.- 17. The Shifting Landscape of Sponsorship within Formula 1.- 18. ‘Men love women, but even more than that, men love cars’: Motor Racing on Film.- 19. ‘Who D’You Think You Are? Stirling Moss?’ British Racing Drivers and the Politics of Celebrity:  1896 to 1992.- 20. ‘The star in the car’: Formula One Stardom, Driver Agency and Celebrity Culture.- 21. Neoliberal Interpellation in the F1 2018 Video Game.- 22. Ecclestone out, Liberty Media in. An Analysis of the Shifting Ownership Structure of Formula One.- SECTION VII: THE GLOBALISATION OF MOTOR RACING - 23. The Circus Comes to Town: Formula 1, Globalization, and the Uber-Sport Spectacle.- 24. Circuits of Capital: The Spatial Development of Formula One Racetracks.- 25. Formula 1 as a Vehicle for Urban Transformation in China: State Entrepreneurialism and the Re-Imaging of Shanghai.- 26. Event on the Streets: the Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix and the Commodification of Urban Space in Baku.- 27. Motor Sport in the Middle East: Business and Political Rivalries in the Arabian Gulf.- 28. Stray dogs and luxury taxes: What happened to the Indian Grand Prix?.- 29. Formula One and the Insanity of Car-Based Transportation.