A Basque-American Deep Game:TThe Political Economy of Ethnicity and Jai-Alai in the United States
ISSN: 2327-4751, 2327-476X
Year of publication: 2017
Issue Title: SPORT, IDENTITY, AND NATIONALISM IN THE HISPANIC WORLD
Issue: 4
Pages: 179-198
Type: Article
More publications in: Studia Iberica et Americana: journal of Iberian and Latin American literary and cultural studies
Abstract
In 1988,a conflict between jai-alai players and fronton owners turned into the longest strike in the history of any American professional sport. This paper addresses the ethnic tensions that characterized the political economy of the jai-alai in the US. On the one hand, it shows that the ethnic character of the sport was maintained due to the economic interests of the companies that managed it. On the other hand, it argues that the political changes in Spain and the Basque conflictin fluenced not only the mood and ideology of the players, but also their demands and forms of protest, which led to the strike of ‘88. These circumstances turned the conflict into a deep game, in which both parties risked what they most wanted, and both lost it.