De Azucar a Pelota: Baseball as a Hegemonic Neocolonial Extractive System in the Dominican Republic

Abstract

Sport is an insightful field of sociology. This is no different in the case of Baseball, specifically in the Dominican Republic. This thesis examines Major League Baseball's academy system in the Dominican Republic as a contemporary neocolonial labor regime. Utilizing institutional document analysis, qualitative interviews, and investigative journalism, this thesis argues that the system operates through the joining of 3 forces: historical continuity, institutional asymmetry, and hegemonic incorporation. The thesis draws on original fieldwork interviews with Kennedy Isaac Conza, an 18 year-old Dominican pitcher training in Las Terrenas, and Jay Quinn, founder of the Baseball Island Foundation, give lived experience context to theoretical analysis. It concludes with policy recommendations for the 2026 CBA negotiations, arguing that meaningful reform must address the many issues that plague the international baseball labor market, including, the international signing age and the absence of a bilateral agreement between MLB and the Dominican Republic. Additionally, a recommendation is made to integrate baseball into Dominican public schools.