Global Gambling: Cultural Perspectives on Gambling Organizations

While most research has examined the legal, economic and psychological sides of gambling, this innovative collection offers a wide range of cultural perspectives on gambling organizations. Using both historical and present-day case studies from throughout the world, the authors seriously consider the rituals, symbols, the meanings, values, legitimations, relations (formal as well as informal), and the spaces and artifacts involved in the (re)production of gambling organizations. Contributors not only examine the global influence of commercial gambling, but also demonstrate how the local qualities of gambling organizations remain unique. This volume will be of interest to criminologists, sociologists, anthropologists, and all scholars of gambling.

Sytze F. Kingma is Senior Lecturer at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in the field of organizational space and technology.

Introduction: Global Gambling Sytze F. Kingma Part 1: Gambling Backgrounds 1. A Question of Money? The Founding of Two Finnish Gambling Monopolies Riitta Matilainen 2. Into the Zone: Innovating in the Australian Poker Machine Industry Richard Woolley and Charles Livingstone 3. Gambling with Development: Comparing Casino Legalization in South Africa with Indian Gambling in California Jeffrey J. Sallaz Part 2: Gambling Scenes 4. Ethnography in a Casino: Social Dynamics at Blackjack Tables Richard A. Marksbury 5. Making Friends, Making Money: Macau's Traditional VIP Casino System Wuyi Wang and Peter Zabielskis 6. Dutch Casino Space: The Spatial Construction of Pleasure Sytze F. Kingma Part 3: Gambling Contexts 7. 'You Could Become a Millionaire': Truth, Deception, and Imagination in Gambling Advertising Per Binde 8. Balancing Rules: Gambling Consumption at Home Anita Borch 9. Subjects in a State: Cultural Economies of Gambling Fiona Nicoll