Bayou Country Bloodsport: The Culture of Cockfighting in Southern Louisiana

Cockfighting has had a long history in the United States. Now outlawed in all 50 states, the violent sport serves as a springboard to discuss controversial leisure activities. The author’s fieldwork, beginning before the ban of cockfighting and conducted mainly in South Louisiana, provides the basis for discussions of issues of society, sport, risk, spectatorship, culture, entertainment, recreation reform, gambling, and other “purple leisure” activities.