Gambling Cultures: Studies in History and Interpretation

by McMillen,Jan; McMillen,Jan

• ISBN13: 9780415068208
• ISBN10: 0415068207
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1996-07-25
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

From bingo in the United Kingdom to slots in Las Vegas and Sydney and 'jambo' in Cameroon, gambling is a feature of societies across the world. Gambling Cultures explores the complex relationship between cash and culture as gambling emerges as a global phenomenon. Traditional accounts of gambling's pleasures and dangers talk in terms of addiction, compulsion, greed and profit. By contrast, this work focuses on modern gambling as it has emerged as a commercial industry, analyses the ambiguous relationship between morality and risk taking and looks at the contradictory stance of governments. Providing a range of case studies from Africa, Australia, the USA and Europe, Gambling Cultures offers a unique, comparative framework for the historical and cultural analysis of contemporary gambling practices.

Table of Contents

List of illustrations	vii	(1)
List of contributors	viii
INTRODUCTION	1	(5)
Jan McMillen
1 UNDERSTANDING GAMBLING: HISTORY, CONCEPTS AND THEORIES	6	(37)
Jan McMillen
2 GAMBLING AND THE LEGALISATION OF VICE: SOCIAL MOVEMENTS, PUBLIC HEALTH AND PUBLIC POLICY IN THE UNITED STATES	43	(22)
John Dombrink
3 SOCIAL EVIL OR SOCIAL GOOD? LOTTERIES AND STATE REGULATION IN AUSTRALIA AND THE UNITED STATES	65	(21)
Wendy Selby
4 ILLEGAL BETTING IN BRITAIN AND AUSTRALIA: CONTRASTS IN CONTROL STRATEGIES AND CULTURES	86	(15)
David Dixon
5 WHEN IT'S BAD IT'S BETTER: CONFLICTING IMAGES OF GAMBLING IN AMERICAN CULTURE	101	(15)
James F. Smith
6 REPRESENTATIONS OF GAMBLING IN AUSTRALIAN POPULAR CULTURE	116	(20)
Peter Williams
7 BINGO IN BRITAIN: AN ANALYSIS OF GENDER AND CLASS	136	(16)
Rachael Dixey
8 WHY `SLOTS' EQUALS `GRIND' IN ANY LANGUAGE: THE CROSS-CULTURAL POPULARITY OF THE SLOT MACHINE	152	(15)
Mark Dickerson
9 GAMBLING IN CAMEROON AND SENEGAL: A RESPONSE TO CRISIS?	167	(12)
Gabrielle A. Brenner
Martial Lipeb
Jean-Michel Servet
10 THE ROLE OF THE STATE IN THE EXPANSION AND GROWTH OF COMMERCIAL GAMBLING IN THE UNITED STATES	179	(20)
Vicki Abt
11 A SIGN OF THE TIMES: THE POLITICAL CULTURE OF GAMING IN THE NETHERLANDS	199	(24)
Sytze Kingma
12 THE MEDICALISATION OF GAMBLING AS AN `ADDICTION'	223	(20)
Michael Walker
13 ETHICAL AND POLICY CONSIDERATIONS IN THE SPREAD OF COMMERCIAL GAMBLING	243	(20)
William R. Eadington
14 FROM GLAMOUR TO GRIND: THE GLOBALISATION OF CASINOS	263	(25)
Jan McMillen
15 OBJECTIVES AND SYSTEMS IN THE REGULATION OF COMMERCIAL GAMBLING	288	(24)
David Miers
Index	312