Thinking Matters Abstract

Title: Soccer in Politics: Identity, Power, and Nationalism

"The appeal of soccer to individuals of all cultures, genders, and ethnicities has made it the world sport. This popularity has not come without a price however, as most places with soccer cultures also see violence and discrimination.

Creating a theoretical framework based on theories of nationalism, power and identity will set the stage for this paper, after which a historical narrative of soccer focused on its colonial legacy will be constructed and analyzed. These two elements will provide a picture of a sport used to create myths of national superiority and to stir up tensions. Then, by studying cases of discrimination towards fans and players from “other” communities in Europe, the paper will place the modern game within the historical and theoretical narrative. Emerging from this is a sense of a society still repeating these racist and colonial narratives, through the import of foreign players under suffocating contracts, and the establishment of normative identities.

Left to consider are the questions of how so many international organizations can hold soccer up as panacea for social and economic problems and if the paradox of a sport that unites as it divides leaves the possibility of soccer as a performance of resistance?"