How Soccer Explains the World
by Franklin Foer does a great job of explaining an interesting phenomenon; why
nationalism remains strong while the world is globalizing. Logic would suggest
that in a world where we could get anywhere in the world by plane, have goods
made in any country that can manufacture them, and tune in/learn about any
state by typing their name into Google.com, the sense of nationalism would
dissolve. Have a friend in Venice? Not a problem, you can Facetime them, and
they might as well be sitting in the room with you.
However, wherever you go, you see
people representing their country, via their outfit, their decorations, or
anything of that sort. The fact is, despite the spread of information flow and
accessibility to other states, nationalism stands strong.
Foer displays this perfectly in the
passion that he and other fans share for his favorite club, FC Barcelona.
Soccer, as described in the book, is a much more globalizing game, much like
the international systems, as players often play in countries that are not
their home. Today, Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo plays in Spain, as well as
Argentina’s Lionel Messi, while Italy’s Mario Balotelli and the Ivory Coast’s
Didier Drogba spend their matches on the pitches of England. This would make it
easy for fans to spread their interests internationally, routing for their
hometown heroes wherever they may play. This is not the case.
The people of Barcelona are heavily invested in the success of their
team. As Foer states, the season ticket holders of the club, or rather “mas que
un club,” still vote for team administration that host debates held on
television. This shows how important the hometown team is to its fans. A Barca
win is even compared to the ancient Athenian victory over Sparta by Manuel
Vazquez Montalban, Barcelona native. It shows how seriously the region takes
their football.
The international system and its
puzzling globalization/nationalism dilemma can be viewed in the same light.
While I can sit on my laptop and look at pictures of beautiful Italian
structures until I’m blue in the face, the fact is I am a part of America. I
vote in American politics, so I have a say in everything that happens via
democracy. This feeling of being able to make a difference, just like that of
the Barcelona people, makes my sense of pride and nationalism skyrocket.
Just like when Neymar, Jr. rockets
in a goal past a rival goaltender and the Barca faithful erupt in joy,
Americans root for their country to reach triumph and celebrate those triumphs
with sheer joy. When we learn about wars in high school, we spend months
discussing wars we have gloriously triumphed (World Wars, civil war,
revolutionary war) and significantly less about our failures. Barcelona fans
will listen to someone bring up their stinging defeats in the 2006-07 season,
and strike back with their four (!) champions league titles.
Nationalism may not seem like it
makes sense in a globalized system, but just like the faithful fans of FC
Barcelona, no matter how globalized a world or system becomes, nationalism is
strong for your home club, or home state.
An interesting discussion - though I should point out that when Barca say four, Real say ten! I think your analogy of looking at images of Italy from the US is worth exploring further - do modern communication technologies simply give us the illusion of connection to distant places, when in fact we remain rooted in a local or national territorial identity?
ReplyDeleteTo address your first comment, Real Madrid are a good for nothing team that buys all of their talent and has a largely inferior youth program compared to Barca. Reference this article ( http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1287826-barcelona-vs-real-madrid-who-has-the-better-academy ). Barca retains talent, Real Madrid sells and buys talent.
ReplyDeleteI do believe that modern communication technologies give us an illusion of connection to distant places. I think people can take classes and do research nowadays to really feel like they have a connection to another country, but until you have immersed yourself, you can only understand so much of the culture. In a sense we are more globalized by things like the internet, but from a cultural standpoint, I think people believe we're more globalized than we actually are.
The Barca / Real Madrid argument is a much more definitive one however. Real Madrid bought 10, FC Barcelona earned 4
I definitely agree that any experience of another place without going there is going to be a shallow one. But even if that were not true and you could some how get a true understanding of a place from your living room there would still be a separation because few people bother to learn such things. We can not help but be influenced by our own culture; we are immersed in it every day.
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