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An Empty Home Field: Reflections on Sports, Race, and the Geographies of Place in the Neo-Liberal City

Fri, November 18, 8:00 to 9:45am, HYATT REGENCY AT COLORADO CONVENTION CTR, Floor: Level 4, Capitol 6

Session Submission Type: Paper Session: Traditional Format

Abstract

On April 28, 2015, in the midst of an uprising over the death of Freddie Gray, the Baltimore Orioles and Chicago White Sox played a game in which no fans were allowed to attend due to concerns over security. The papers on this panel will use this event as a launching point toward a wider discussion of the economic and racial politics of sports within urban landscapes. Sports have been at the fulcrum of a turn in urban policy toward encouraging public investment in private enterprise. The home team often represents those who live in homes outside of a city’s boundaries, while urban residents, many of whom are people of color, often face a level of policing and a degree of violence that might make even those living within a physical shelter feel homeless. Yet, the events of Baltimore also suggest that urban residents also maintain a consciously critical understanding of the ways that urban elites have used sports to remap urban geographies. Papers in this session will explore the impact of sports stadium construction upon communities of color, as well as the ways that urban citizens have historically used alternative and underground sports to reclaim urban spaces, making unlikely places in the city their home.

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