Gambling, Space, and Time: Shifting Boundaries and Cultures is a new book from the University of Nevada Press. It includes a chapter on Swedish horse betting, written by me.
About the book
“The eight essays in Gambling, Space, and Time use a global and interdisciplinary approach to examine two significant areas of gambling studies that have not been widely explored—the ever-changing boundaries that divide and organize gambling spaces, and the cultures, perceptions, and emotions related to gambling. The contributors represent a variety of disciplines: history, geography, sociology, anthropology, political science, and law. The essays consider such topics as the impact of technological advances on gambling activities, the role of the nation-state in the gambling industry, and the ways that cultural and moral values influence the availability of gambling and the behavior of gamblers. The case studies offer rich new insights into a gambling industry that is both a global phenomenon and a powerful engine of local change.” (University of Nevada Press)
Editors
Pauliina Raento and David G. Schwartz.
Contributors
Per Binde, Larry Gragg, Sytze F. Kingma, Steven Andrew Light, Kathryn L. R. Rand, Pauliina Raento, David G. Schwartz, and Denise von Herrmann.
Reviews
“Gambling, Space, and Time extends the available research on gambling, and therefore makes a significant contribution to the literature. There is no doubt that the contributors have done careful and extensive original research.”
— James Smith, author of The Business of Risk: Commercial Gambling in Mainstream America.
“This book looks at gambling spaces from a number of perspectives: legal, political, social, and geographic; and discusses how such spaces have evolved over time. The essays provide insights into how this rapidly expanding but controversial activity has evolved in America and Europe, and where it will emerge in cyberspace.”
— William R. Eadington, Director, Institute for the Study of Gambling and Commercial Gaming, University of Nevada, Reno.
About the book chapter Trotting territory: The cultural realm of Swedish horse betting
Human beings in social interaction create life-worlds with shared symbols, meanings, and values. Some forms of gambling, among them horse betting, therefore tend to evolve into bounded cultural domains with specific beliefs, norms, and traditions. Gambling becomes the core of a world-building activity. This chapter concerns one such cultural realm established by gambling – the one created and re-created at the Åby trotting track in Sweden at the days of racing. The study builds on participant observation and analyses the social interactions and cultural meanings that structure people’s experience of Åby trotting track. Author: Per Binde.
