Michael Ralph – författare

As one of Africa's few democracies, Senegal has long been thought of as a leader of moral, political, and economic development on the continent. We tend to assume that any such nation has achieved favorable international standing due to its own merits. In Forensics of Capital, Michael Ralph upends this kind of conventional thinking, showing how Senegal's diplomatic standing was strategically forged in the colonial and postcolonial eras at key periods of its history and is today entirely contingent on the consensus of wealthy and influential nations and international lending agencies. Ralph examines Senegal's crucial and pragmatic decisions related to its development and how they garnered international favor, decisions such as its opposition to Soviet involvement in African liberation - despite itself being a socialist state - or its support for the US-led war on terror - despite its population being predominately Muslim. He shows how such actions have given Senegal an inflated political and economic position and status as a highly creditworthy nation even as its domestic economy has faltered.Exploring these and many other aspects of Senegal's political economy and its interface with the international community, Ralph demonstrates that the international reputation of any nation-not just Senegal-is based on deep structural biases.

As one of Africa's few democracies, Senegal has long been thought of as a leader of moral, political, and economic development on the continent. We tend to assume that any such nation has achieved favorable international standing due to its own merits. In Forensics of Capital, Michael Ralph upends this kind of conventional thinking, showing how Senegal's diplomatic standing was strategically forged in the colonial and postcolonial eras at key periods of its history and is today entirely contingent on the consensus of wealthy and influential nations and international lending agencies. Ralph examines Senegal's crucial and pragmatic decisions related to its development and how they garnered international favor, decisions such as its opposition to Soviet involvement in African liberation - despite itself being a socialist state - or its support for the US-led war on terror - despite its population being predominately Muslim. He shows how such actions have given Senegal an inflated political and economic position and status as a highly creditworthy nation even as its domestic economy has faltered.Exploring these and many other aspects of Senegal's political economy and its interface with the international community, Ralph demonstrates that the international reputation of any nation-not just Senegal-is based on deep structural biases.

This insightful volume considers how to locate America in the sporting world: in the traditions and rituals of a national pastime or in the baseball academies run by American professional teams in the Dominican Republic? With the athletes that carry a flag in Olympic ceremonies or among the executives in the boardrooms of Nike? The contributors argue that 'America' is located in these familiar sites and practices but also and increasingly in these novel contexts, where the bodies, strategies, and aspirations of others are becoming subject to American ludic, agonistic, and moral orders. Collectively, their contention is that American sports as a category needs to be reconsidered, to take into account the extensive networks of expertise, finance, and performance moving out from American athletic institutions as well as the ever increasing influx of talent coming from abroad that sustains American collegiate and professional athletics. As America strives to balance cosmopolitan objectives with resurgent nationalism, it is critical to consider 'American sports' from within and without. This book will be of great interest to scholars of culture, politics, and sport.This book was previously published as a special issue of The International Journal of the History of Sport.

This insightful volume considers how to locate America in the sporting world: in the traditions and rituals of a national pastime or in the baseball academies run by American professional teams in the Dominican Republic? With the athletes that carry a flag in Olympic ceremonies or among the executives in the boardrooms of Nike? The contributors arg

This insightful volume considers how to locate America in the sporting world: in the traditions and rituals of a national pastime or in the baseball academies run by American professional teams in the Dominican Republic? With the athletes that carry a flag in Olympic ceremonies or among the executives in the boardrooms of Nike? The contributors arg