Motorsports and American Culture

Motorsports and American Culture
Author: Mark D. Howell
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 249
Release: 2014-04-10
Genre: Sports & Recreation
ISBN: 1442230975

Soon after the first automobiles were introduced in the United States, auto racing became a reality. Since that time, motorsports have expanded to include drag racing, open wheel racing, rallying, demolition derbies, stock car racing, and more. Motorsports have grown to such an extent that NASCAR is now the second most watched professional sport in America, behind only football. But motorsports are about much more than going fast and finishing first. These events also reflect our culture, our society, our values, and our history. In Motorsports and American Culture: From Demolition Derbies to NASCAR, Mark D. Howell and John D. Miller bring together essays that examine the relevancy of motorsports to American culture and history, from the late nineteenth century to the present. Addressing a wide spectrum of motorsports—such as stock car racing, demolition derbies, land speed record pursuits, and even staged train wrecks—the essays highlight the social and cultural implications of contemporary and historical moments in these sports. Topics covered include gender roles in motorsports, hot rods and the creation of fan and participant identities, the appeal of demolition derbies, the globalization of motorsports, the role of moonshine in stock car history, the economic relationship between NASCAR and its corporate sponsors, and more. Offering the most thorough study of motorsports to date from a diverse pool of disciplines and subjects, Motorsports and American Culture will appeal to motorsports and automobile enthusiasts, as well as those interested in American history, popular culture, sports history, and gender studies.

Motorsports and American Culture

Motorsports and American Culture
Author: Mark D. Howell
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2014
Genre: Automobile racing
ISBN: 9781442230965

This collection of essays examines the relevancy of motorsports to American culture and history, from the late nineteenth century to the present. Addressing a wide spectrum of motorsports--such as stock car racing, demolition derbies, land speed record pursuits, and even staged train wrecks--the essays highlight the social and cultural implications of contemporary and historical moments in these events. Topics covered include gender roles in motorsports, hot rods and the creation of fan and participant identities, the appeal of demolition derbies, the globalization of motorsports, moonshine's role in stock car history, the economic relationship between NASCAR and sponsors, and more.

High Performance

High Performance
Author: Robert C. Post
Publisher: JHU Press
Total Pages: 460
Release: 2001
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9780801866647

Providing a firsthand history of the sport, this book takes a detailed look at all aspects of drag racing: the sport, the business, and tracks the innovations that permitted racers to disprove the "laws of physics". 147 halftones.

African American Culture

African American Culture
Author: Omari L. Dyson
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Total Pages: 1081
Release: 2020-07-23
Genre: Social Science
ISBN:

Covering everything from sports to art, religion, music, and entrepreneurship, this book documents the vast array of African American cultural expressions and discusses their impact on the culture of the United States. According to the latest census data, less than 13 percent of the U.S. population identifies as African American; African Americans are still very much a minority group. Yet African American cultural expression and strong influences from African American culture are common across mainstream American culture—in music, the arts, and entertainment; in education and religion; in sports; and in politics and business. African American Culture: An Encyclopedia of People, Traditions, and Customs covers virtually every aspect of African American cultural expression, addressing subject matter that ranges from how African culture was preserved during slavery hundreds of years ago to the richness and complexity of African American culture in the post-Obama era. The most comprehensive reference work on African American culture to date, the multivolume set covers such topics as black contributions to literature and the arts, music and entertainment, religion, and professional sports. It also provides coverage of less-commonly addressed subjects, such as African American fashion practices and beauty culture, the development of jazz music across different eras, and African American business.

Youth Cultures in America [2 volumes]

Youth Cultures in America [2 volumes]
Author: Simon J. Bronner
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Total Pages: 869
Release: 2016-03-21
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1440833923

What are the components of youth cultures today? This encyclopedia examines the facets of youth cultures and brings them to the forefront. Although issues of youth culture are frequently cited in classrooms and public forums, most encyclopedias of childhood and youth are devoted to history, human development, and society. A limitation on the reference bookshelf is the restriction of youth to pre-adolescence, although issues of youth continue into young adulthood. This encyclopedia addresses an academic audience of professors and students in childhood studies, American studies, and culture studies. The authors span disciplines of psychology, sociology, anthropology, history, and folklore. The Encyclopedia of Youth Cultures in America addresses a need for historical, social, and cultural information on a wide array of youth groups. Such a reference work serves as a corrective to the narrow public view that young people are part of an amalgamated youth group or occupy malicious gangs and satanic cults. Widespread reports of bullying, school violence, dominance of athletics over academics, and changing demographics in the United States has drawn renewed attention to the changing cultural landscape of youth in and out of school to explain social and psychological problems.

Auto Racing Comes of Age

Auto Racing Comes of Age
Author: Robert Dick
Publisher: McFarland
Total Pages: 684
Release: 2013-05-04
Genre: Transportation
ISBN: 0786488115

The first quarter of the 20th century was a time of dramatic change in auto racing, marked by the move from the horseless carriage to the supercharged Grand Prix racer, from the gentleman driver to the well-publicized professional, and from the dusty road course to the autodrome. This history of the evolution of European and American auto racing from 1900 to 1925 examines transatlantic influences, early dirt track racing, and the birth of the twin-cam engine and the straight-eight. It also explores the origins of the Bennett and Vanderbilt races, the early career of "America's Speed King" Barney Oldfield, the rise of the speedway specials from Marmon, Mercer, Stutz and Duesenberg, and developments from Peugeot, Delage, Ballot, Fiat, and Bugatti. This informative work provides welcome insight into a defining period in motorsports.

The Automobile in American History and Culture

The Automobile in American History and Culture
Author: Michael L. Berger
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Total Pages: 516
Release: 2001-07-30
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0313016062

This comprehensive reference guide reviews the literature concerning the impact of the automobile on American social, economic, and political history. Covering the complete history of the automobile to date, twelve chapters of bibliographic essays describe the important works in a series of related topics and provide broad thematic contexts. This work includes general histories of the automobile, the industry it spawned and labor-management relations, as well as biographies of famous automotive personalities. Focusing on books concerned with various social aspects, chapters discuss such issues as the car's influence on family life, youth, women, the elderly, minorities, literature, and leisure and recreation. Berger has also included works that investigate the government's role in aiding and regulating the automobile, with sections on roads and highways, safety, and pollution. The guide concludes with an overview of reference works and periodicals in the field and a description of selected research collections. The Automobile in American History and Culture provides a resource with which to examine the entire field and its structure. Popular culture scholars and enthusiasts involved in automotive research will appreciate the extensive scope of this reference. Cross-referenced throughout, it will serve as a valuable research tool.

The Green Transition in Motorsport

The Green Transition in Motorsport
Author: Hans Erik Næss
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 145
Release: 2024-10-28
Genre: Sports & Recreation
ISBN: 1040147801

This book is a critical exploration of motorsport’s contribution to ‘the green transition’, understood as a societal shift towards a fossil-free future, a circular economy, and greater social inclusiveness. The book takes a critical look at the historical impact of motorsport and the current business and sporting models that determine its sustainability, as well as the innovation that might contribute solutions to wider social and environmental problems. Drawing on perspectives from sociology, media and sport business, the book unpacks the complexity of stakeholder interests in motorsport that might constrain positive change. Presenting cases and data from Formula One, Formula E, Extreme E, the World Rally Championship, NASCAR and the World Endurance Championship, the book considers the technological and organizational change required to address the triple bottom line of financial, environmental and social sustainability, and looks at how audiences, markets, teams, governing bodies, corporations, and state actors combine to shape the social and economic environments within which motorsport takes place. Representing a unique case study of the impact of elite sport on wider society, this book is fascinating reading for anybody with an interest in motorsport, sport business, sustainable business, or environment, society and culture.

Motorsport and Fascism

Motorsport and Fascism
Author: Paul Baxa
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 325
Release: 2022-04-28
Genre: Sports & Recreation
ISBN: 3030979679

This book is the first English-language study of motorsport and Italian Fascism, arguing that a synergy existed between motor racing and Fascism that did not exist with other sports. Motorsport was able to bring together the two dominant, and often opposed, cultural roots of Fascism, the Futurism of F. T. Marinetti, and the Decadence associated with Gabriele D’Annunzio. The book traces this cultural convergence through a topical study of motorsport in the 1920s and 1930s placing it in the context of the history of sport under Mussolini’s regime. Chapters discuss the centrality of speed and death in Fascist culture, the attempt to transform Rome into a motorsport capital, the architectural and ideological function of the Monza and Tripoli and autodromes, and two chapters on the importance of the Mille Miglia, a genuine Fascist artefact that became one of the most legendary motor races of all time.