
Series
Volume 1
Sport Matters
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Wrestling with Hope in Urban Senegal
Sports, Masculinity, and Precarious Trajectories
Mark Hann
226 pages, 22 ills., bibliog., index
ISBN 978-1-80539-998-8 $135.00/£104.00 / Hb / Not Yet Published (June 2025)
eISBN 978-1-80539-999-5 eBook Not Yet Published
Reviews
“It was a joy to read. It offers an original and nuanced analysis of the interplay between global and local sport industries and their impact on the lives of young men in a neoliberal Global South context.” • James Esson, Queen Mary University
Description
In Dakar, thousands of young men train daily on beaches, football pitches and sandy courtyards in pursuit of athletic success. Aspiring football players seek contracts in the lucrative leagues of the Global North, while hopeful wrestlers aim to captivate massive crowds as members of Senegal's beloved national sport. Despite their differences – (European) football's global appeal versus wrestling's traditional roots – both sports demand immense effort and come with high social costs. Wrestling with Hope follows the journeys of these precarious athletes as they confront the realities of their aspirations, grappling with themes of masculinity, belief systems and economic survival whilst navigating the complexities of a neoliberal landscape.
Mark Hann was part of the GLOBALSPORT research team, a multi-sited comparative ethnographic project funded by the European Research Council at the University of Amsterdam. He is currently Research & Learning Coordinator at Mensen met een Missie, a Netherlands-based NGO dedicated to supporting local peacebuilding efforts and reducing harmful convictions worldwide.