The People’s Game: A Final Reflection
July 14, 2014
A final reflection on this year’s World Cup: Global football is a historical product; it has been shaped from its beginnings by multiple forces, shot through with politics, culture, pathos and pride. And, like all other social phenomena, it has two sides; it has always been a contested terrain. Thus, though not always, if you…
The People’s Game Podcast #32 – 7/13/14
July 14, 2014The brilliant, collaborative, whole-is-greater-than-the-sum-of-its-parts German national team won the World Cup on Sunday. This is the product of Germany recognizing the need to allocate resources to build an institution valued by the entire society. Germany has the most coherent, well-funded national soccer program in the world, and it should be no surprise that they just…
Left-Wing Football: Cesar Luis Menotti
July 13, 2014Despite World Cup Finalist Argentina’s conflicted political history, Argentinian football has always contained strong threads of political radicalism. While other footballers, such as Johan Cruyff, boycotted the 1978 World Cup in Argentina due to the dictatorship, others, like Argentina coach Cesar Luis Menotti, played the games as a point of resistance. Argentina won the Cup…
FC Bayern Munich and Jewish Resistance to the Third Reich
July 13, 2014The core of World Cup Finalist Germany’s superb national team is anchored in the Bundesliga’s champion club, Bayern Munich. This club, which had strong roots in Munich’s Jewish community in the early 20th century, has a rich yet obscure history of resistance to Hitler and the Nazi regime. In the 1930s, Bayern’s Jewish president, Kurt…
The People’s Game Podcast #31 – 7/12/14
July 13, 2014On the eve of the final, we bring a range of radical perspectives on the 2014 World Cup. Alan and Meleiza recap Brazil’s unprecedented second loss in the third-place match, and share thoughts, prospects, and hopes for the big final tomorrow, and feature Laurent Dubois’ reflections on the World Cup and its stories. Brazilian professor…
Beyond Winning or Losing: Brazil’s Socrates
July 12, 2014My greatest wish for the Brazilian team in this unavoidably painful third-place game is that: win or lose, they can focus less on the pressure to win and remember those aspects of soccer – the joy, the teamwork, the fun, the way it brings people together – that make this sport beautiful and subversive; that…
The Albicelestes and the Abuelas del Plaza de Mayo
July 12, 2014World Cup Finalist Argentina has a great radical football tradition, despite its conflicted political history. At the 2010 World Cup, the Argentinian national football team declared its support for the Mothers/Grandmothers of the Disappeared (Madres/Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo), an organization of women whose tireless demands for information regarding the 30,000 Argentinians “disappeared” during the…
The People’s Game Podcast #30 – 7/11/14
July 11, 2014On today’s podcast, we look forward to the two final matches of the World Cup 2014 tournament. The third-place match pits a demoralized Brazil against the Netherlands, and of course, on Sunday, the main event: the final between Argentina and Germany. Alan and Meleiza give a preview of what we may expect to see, and…
Soccer Against the State: Egypt’s Ultras and the Arab Spring
July 11, 2014On this last ‘rest day’ of the World Cup, we pay tribute to another group of revolutionary hooligans: Cairo’s now-legendary Ultras Al-Ahlawy and the White Knights of Zamalek FC. Traditionally bitter rivals, these organized fan groups came together in solidarity at Tahrir Square and were instrumental to the Egyptian Revolution. The ultras embodied resistance to…
The People’s Game Podcast #29 – 7/10/14
July 11, 2014On today’s podcast, Alan and Meleiza look back on one of the most extraordinary World Cups in recent history, and reflect on the sociopolitical significance of the Cup’s most memorable stories. Then, we feature Alan’s extraordinary interview with Andrei Markovits, one of the world’s leading academics who explores the social impact and significance of sports.