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Palgrave Macmillan

Building the WNBA

From "Dunking Divas" to Political Leaders

  • Book
  • © 2024

Overview

Authors:
  1. Georgia Munro-Cook

    1. Griffith University, Newtown, Australia

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  • Presents a comprehensive historical and contemporary analysis of the WBNA
  • Applies feminist new materialist paradigms to the professionalisation of women’s sport
  • Provides a timely analysis of the WNBA’s intervention into recent geopolitical events

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Table of contents (9 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xiii
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  2. Introduction

    • Georgia Munro-Cook
    Pages 1-25

  3. A History of Basketball for Women

    • Georgia Munro-Cook
    Pages 27-43

  4. “Dunking Divas”: Gender, Race, and Sexuality (1997–2013)

    • Georgia Munro-Cook
    Pages 45-73

  5. The “3 to See” and Beyond

    • Georgia Munro-Cook
    Pages 75-109

  6. “Say Her Name”: Activism and Racial Justice

    • Georgia Munro-Cook
    Pages 111-126

  7. Playing “Like a Guy”: Game Style, Physicality, and Embodiment

    • Georgia Munro-Cook
    Pages 127-155

  8. “It’s My Job”: Building a Professional League

    • Georgia Munro-Cook
    Pages 157-193

  9. “Bet on Women”: Understanding the Wage Gap

    • Georgia Munro-Cook
    Pages 195-227

  10. Conclusion

    • Georgia Munro-Cook
    Pages 229-234

  11. Back Matter

    Pages 235-240
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Keywords

About this book

This book provides the first comprehensive analysis of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA), exploring the role of gender, race, and sexuality in the continuing growth of the league. As the longest running and most successful professional women’s sporting league in the United States, the WNBA has evolved into a politically important force both inside and outside the sporting world. Drawing on a variety of research methods, including ethnography, media and literary analysis, and archival research, the book argues that it is its players’ dedication and commitment to ensuring a sustainable league that has enabled the WNBA to survive in spite of an American sporting landscape that is otherwise hostile to women. 

As such, It will be of interest to academics and students working or studying in the fields of sports sociology, sports management, feminist theory, sports history, and gender studies.

Authors and Affiliations

  • Griffith University, Newtown, Australia

    Georgia Munro-Cook

About the author

 Georgia Munro-Cook is a Research Fellow at Griffith University, Australia, working as part of the Inclusive Futures Beacon to promote sport and recreation for people with disability. She is particularly interested in looking at the intersectional barriers women with disability face in engaging with sport

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Building the WNBA

  • Book Subtitle: From "Dunking Divas" to Political Leaders

  • Authors: Georgia Munro-Cook

  • Series Title: New Femininities in Digital, Physical and Sporting Cultures

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-53114-9

  • Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham

  • eBook Packages: Social Sciences, Social Sciences (R0)

  • Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2024

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-031-53113-2Published: 15 March 2024

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-3-031-53116-3Due: 15 April 2024

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-031-53114-9Published: 14 March 2024

  • Series ISSN: 2522-0330

  • Series E-ISSN: 2522-0349

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XIII, 240

  • Topics: Sociology of Sport and Leisure, Sport Science , Gender Studies

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