Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Athlete As Trickster, Gerald Gems

Ethnic Studies Review

This study invokes hegemony theory to analyze the role and uses of sport as a means to resist dominant group pressures and the adaptation of sporting practices to subordinate groups' needs. The study draws upon literary and anthropological works that support the role of the trickster as a resistive, even manipulative figure, who fulfills both instructive and psychological needs for particular subordinate groups.