Olympic Dreams
Sports and China from 1895 to 2008
Book •
In Olympic Dreams, Xu Guoqi explores how modern sports and Olympic participation intersected with China's struggles over modernization, national prestige, and identity from 1895 to 2008.
The book argues that international sporting events offered a stage for China to contest humiliations, demonstrate reform, and engage transnationally.
Xu analyzes athletes, institutions, and public discourse to reveal how sporting practices reflected broader political and social transformations.
He shows how sports served both as a tool of state-building and as a site of cultural exchange, producing new forms of Chineseness.
The study links local experiences to global structures, demonstrating the transnational dimensions of modern Chinese history.
The book argues that international sporting events offered a stage for China to contest humiliations, demonstrate reform, and engage transnationally.
Xu analyzes athletes, institutions, and public discourse to reveal how sporting practices reflected broader political and social transformations.
He shows how sports served both as a tool of state-building and as a site of cultural exchange, producing new forms of Chineseness.
The study links local experiences to global structures, demonstrating the transnational dimensions of modern Chinese history.
Mentioned by
Mentioned in 0 episodes
Mentioned by ![undefined]()
Xu Guoqi
Guoqi Xu, "The Idea of China: A Contested History" (Harvard UP, 2026)
Mentioned by the guest as his earlier book that used international sports to study China's globalization.
Guoqi Xu, "The Idea of China: A Contested History" (Harvard UP, 2026)
