Michael Jordan, Inc.: Corporate Sport, Media Culture, and Late Modern America

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SUNY Press, Aug 16, 2001 - Sports & Recreation - 301 pages
Michael Jordan, Inc. seeks to make sense of a celebrated figure whose public existence illuminates a late capitalist order defined by the convergence of corporate and media interests. Using Michael Jordan as a vehicle for viewing the broader social, economic, political, and technological concerns that frame contemporary culture, the contributors focus on celebrity economy, corporate culture, identity politics, and the global marketplace foundational pillars of contemporary cultural existence. They provide an introduction to late capitalism s pervasive and invasive cult of celebrity, examine the innovative corporate connections (particularly Jordan s association with Nike) largely responsible for Jordan s aggressively commodified being, excavate the cultural politics imbued within the racialized and sexualized nature of Jordan s identity, and demonstrate the global reach and influence that has accompanied the concerted commodification of Jordan by transnational corporations. This anthology represents both an intellectual expression of, and a political commitment to, the fact that Michael Jordan matters.
 

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Contents

Representing Michael
7
Michael Jordan and His Uniform Number
19
The Sports Spectacle Michael Jordan and Nike Unholy Alliance?
41
Nikes AmericaAmericas Michael Jordan
69
The Facts of Michael Jordans Blackness Excavating a Floating Racial Signifier
111
Safe Sex Symbol? Michael Jordan and the Politics of Representation
157
The Global Jordanscape
181
Michael Jordan Sneaker Commercials and Canadian Youth Cultures
221
Be Like Mike? Michael Jordan and the Pedagogy of Desire
263
Just Do It What Michael Jordan Has to Teach Us
273
Contributors
281
Index
285
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About the author (2001)

David L. Andrews is Associate Professor of Sport and Cultural Studies at The University of Maryland, College Park and a Visiting Senior Research Fellow at De Montfort University in England.

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