Abstract
This article frames this Yearbook’s special issue through a look at transnational and historical
approaches to sport and sporting bodies: their transgressing practices, representations
and impacts on femininities, masculinities and ethnicities. It investigates and critically reviews
the historiography on these themes, both in Europe and the us, adding an oftenneglected
focus on the Netherlands. Despite growing academic interest for particularly the
history of competitive sport, sport is still the ‘great undiscovered country of the historical
world’, although its transnational character and immense popularity have affected people
and society across the globe. The article aims to inspire discussions in both gender and diversity
history and global history by arguing that these fields can gain insights from including
sport-related themes. If anything, sport represents a global, even deterritorialized domain
and its history should therefore be approached as transnational and interconnected.
Through introducing the articles of this issue, it also argues that historical analysis has the
potential to impact persisting features of the gendered and ethnicized contexts of sports. As
such, a historical focus should be a key aspect of contemporary sport studies, particularly
those focusing on social inclusion and exclusion.
