Abstract
The primary purpose of this essay is to address the linkage between the emergence and development of cultural studies on the one hand, and the study of sport as a cultural practice on the other. Specifically, this linkage is examined in a fourfold manner: first, an overview of the implicit political commitments associated with cultural studies as a critical intellectual pursuit; second, a genealogy of an overlooked dimension of cultural studies, namely, the sport-related analyses conducted by researchers affiliated with the Centre for Contemporary Cultural Study at the University of Birmingham; third, an examination of the methodological and theoretical underpinnings of Stuart Hall's (1986a) “Marxism without guarantees” as an innovative and incisive response to the cultural studies problematic; and fourth, a discussion of the relevance of Hall's conjunctural approach for critically interpreting the significance of sport in the production and experiencing of contemporary national cultures.