The Globalization of Football or the Footballization of the World (original) (raw)
Related papers
2012
This paper provides a sociological model of the key transnational political and economic forces that are shaping the ‘global football field’. The model draws upon, and significantly extends, the theory of the ‘global field’ developed previously by Robertson. The model features four quadrants, each of which contains a dominant operating principle, an ‘elemental reference point’, and an ‘elemental theme’. The quadrants contain, first, neo-liberalism, associated with the individual and elite football clubs; second, neo-mercantilism, associated with nation-states and national football systems; third, international relations, associated with international governing bodies; and fourth, global civil society, associated with diverse institutions that pursue human development and/or social justice. We examine some of the interactions and tensions between the major institutional and ideological forces across the four quadrants. We conclude by examining how the weakest quadrant, featuring global civil society, may gain greater prominence within football. In broad terms, we argue that our four-fold model may be utilized to map and to examine other substantive research fields with reference to globalization.
A Sociology of Football in a Global Context
2015
Association football is now the global sport, consumed in various ways by millions of people across the world. Throughout its history, football has been a catalyst as much for social cohesion, unity, excitement and integration as it can be for division, exclusion and discrimination. A Sociology of Football in a Global Context examines the historical, political, economic, social and cultural complexities of the game across Europe, Africa, Asia and North and South America. It analyses the key developments and sociological debates within football through a topic-based approach that concentrates on the history of football and its global diffusion; the role of violence; the global governance of the game by FIFA; race, racism and whiteness; gender and homophobia; the changing nature of fans; the media and football’s financial revolution; the transformation of players into global celebrities; and the growth of football leagues across the world. Using a range of examples from all over the world, each chapter highlights the different social and cultural changes football has seen, most notably since the 1990s, when its relationship with the mass media and other transnational networks became more important and financially lucrative.
As a physical activity practiced by billions of men and women all over the world, sport is becoming globalized and international. Nowadays, competitions are organized; they are able to hold the attention of viewers around the world, contributing to the emergence of a World society more unified.
Recovering the social: globalization, football and transnationalism
2007
In this article, we place the social and football (as a sporting realm) at the heart of social scientific analysis of globalization processes. Our theoretical framework sets out, in turn, the concepts of glocalization, with particular reference to what we term the ‘duality of glocality’; transnationalism, notably its socio-historical aspects; connectivity, with particular reference to its antonym, ‘disconnectivity’; and cosmopolitanism, with strong focus on what we term its ‘thick’ and ‘thin’ variants. We explore the interplay of these concepts and processes within three broad domains of the ‘football world’: supporter subcultures, sport journalism, and Japanese football culture. We conclude in part by arguing for greater exploration of sport's role in regard to global processes and of the interrelationships between the duality of glocality and the thick/thin variants of cosmopolitanism.
The Ritual Sublimation of Global Capitalism or The Beautiful Game?: Football in Post-War Europe
International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research, Review and Studies, 2024
Introduction: "The scorn of many conservative intellectuals comes from their belief that soccer-worship is exactly the religion people deserve. Possessed by soccer, the proles (proletariats) think with their feet, which is the only way they can think, and through such primitive ecstasy they fulfill their dreams. The animal instinct overtakes human reason, ignorance crushes culture and the riffraff get what they want." (-Eduardo Galeano) 1 There is hardly any other competitive and mass spectator sport more popular, global or extraordinarily resilient than football in terms of forging identity and bringing people together, in the modern world. Nowadays it has also appeared not merely as a global, but also as a transcultural phenomenon and a media spectacle at a transnational level. For its billions of fans, football serves as a common and shared language with an ostentatiously unmatching geographical scope-thanks to the innate simplicity and voluntarism of the game. Interestingly, no single country or continent owns football despite its specific historical and geographical origins, its veritable course of migration, or whatever the hierarchies of the game prevails.
International Theory
In the English School, the relationship between international and world society has recently received increasing attention – conceptually and empirically. Adding to this developing literature, we study how world societal actors not only serve as normative counterpoints to international society or function as norm-entrepreneurs, but decisively contribute to its reproduction. Going beyond the common preoccupation with actor types, we focus on practices that are performed on the international stage. We examine the role which world sport events, especially FIFA's World Cup and the infrastructure of football, play for international society. Building on Wight, we conceptualize world sport events as a (world societal actor driven) derivative primary institution of international society, which is embedded within the particularly hybrid master primary institution of sites and festivals. We find that world sport events allow for the ludic and festive reproduction of key primary institutio...
Tracing Football's Socio-Political Evolution Through World Cups
Global Perspectives on Soccer and the Media and Entertainment Industry, 2024
Football's universal appeal and inherent simplicity position it as a transformative force across geographical, political, and cultural boundaries. Since the inaugural FIFA World Cup in 1930, it has evolved into the most watched sporting event globally, facilitating cultural exchange, economic growth, and social unity. This chapter critically examines the multifaceted economic impacts of hosting the World Cup, including infrastructure enhancements, tourism boosts, and job creation, while also addressing significant challenges such as human rights violations and environmental degradation. Key milestones, such as Brazil's mid-20th century dominance and the introduction of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system, illustrate the tournament's evolution. Furthermore, the World Cup serves as a platform for global peace and diplomacy, fostering mutual respect and understanding among nations. As it adapts to contemporary challenges, the tournament reflects the ongoing dynamics within the global football community.
Sport and globalization: transnational dimensions
2007
The aims of this special issue are to both raise the social scientific status of sport and to advance understanding of transnational processes through the role of sport in global change. The Introduction argues that sport, like globalization, can be understood in transdisciplinary terms, and the papers included contributions informed by sociology, anthropology, political sciences and history. As well as placing the issue in the context of recent studies of sport and globalization, the Introduction outlines the seven papers. Placed together they move from analyses of broader globalizing and multi-sport issues towards consideration of how transnational processes impact upon individual sports – with examples from cricket, baseball and association football – ending with regional and national dimensions.