This is the first book to focus on indigenous, traditional and folk sports and sporting cultures. It examines the significance of sporting cultures that have survived the emergence and diffusion of western sports and have carved out a unique position not only in spite of, but also in response to, modernity.

Introduction, Part I - Rediscovering Heritage: Identity and Ethnopolitics, 1. Oil over Turkey: UNESCO's Kirkpinar Wrestling in Edirne, 2. Xam Sa Coosan, "Know your Heritage": Senegalese Wrestling and the "Rediscovery" of Ethnicity, 3. Heritage, Spectacle, Ethnos: The Revival of Traditional Games in Central Asia, 4. From Subalternity to Intangible Heritage and National Symbol: Catalonia's Castells, Part II - Nationalizing the Traditional, 5. The Construction and Deconstruction of Kabaddi, the National Sport of Bangladesh: A Tale of Its Identity and Decline, 6. A Tale of Two Sumos: Tradition and Sport, 7. Ireland's Hurling, 8. Finnish Pesäpallo: The Modernization and Indigenization of a Northern European Bat-and-Ball Game, Part III - Modernizing the Indigenous: "Redemptions" and Disenchantments, 9. From Segregation to Integration: Changing Gender Roles in the Modernisation of Traditional Folk Sports in China, 10. Traditional Chinese Martial Arts: The Naming and Development of Wushu, 11. Swedish Bandy and its Struggle with Modernity, 12. Playing for the Creator: Understanding the Indigenous Roots of Lacrosse, Part IV - Indigenizing the Modern: In Search of Myth, Ethos, and Symbol, 13. The Symbolism of Indigenous Sport Disciplines: Sámi Sports and their Roots in Reindeer Husbandry, 14. Dragon Boat: A Traditional Asian Sport with a Modern Flair, 15. Beyond the Sweep: The Meanders of Capoeira as a Martial Art and Cultural Expression, 16. Between Modern Sport and Ethnic Essence: The Jai Alai of Global Capitalism, and the Pelota of the Basques