Returning home, wherever that may be

I am back in Frankfurt, chez mon Frere. I am tired, slightly smelly from all the traveling over the last 48 hrs, and glad to have had the family time, but also glad it is behind me for now. It was great to also see friends, climb a few mountains, and drink a few Weissbier. While I cannot see myself settling in Germany, I am forever connected to the Bavarian soil. Ich bin in der Welt Zuhause, aber in Bayern da Heim.

In a few days I make a quiet return to the US of A. It will be refreshing to see Obama's mug greeting me, rather than G. W.'s, which is the face that has represented the US since 2001. Let's see what this trip brings...

I certainly hope it is the last international move for a long while. Time to make something happen.

Progress = one step forward, two steps back...

I need an external drive full of energy for these next two weeks ...

Certain developments mean I have to have a completed rough draft of the whole thesis in by the 18th of this month, so the next two weeks are going to be devoid of fun of any kind. But it looks like I am getting my thesis defense on Thursday or Friday of Finals week, which is cool. Would love to have my folks there...

I also found a cool grant that I might be able to use for a project in the Balkans. So when I have some down time, or need a break from the thesis, then I can cook up a good project for myself. It needs to have civic engagement in it, and has to be something that will put me in the community, and working with individuals from that community. I would love it to build off of this thesis, so it should involve soccer.

In other news, the German DFB thinks its time for the 'peaceful' fans in the stadiums to be doing the work of the police. I guess there was an incident of fans throwing fireworks around in Frankfurt, so the DFB wants fans to regulate each other in such events... This feels like a rather indirect admission of an awareness to not having the control they appear to have. I also think there is no way this will work; not only do fans generally side with one another against law enforcement inside a stadium, but the group mentality means no individual is likely to speak up when they see others doing something the wider group may approve of.

Getting a handle on Multiculturalism

In late March of 2006 Nigerian Adebowale Ogungbure was playing for 4th division Sachsen Leibzig when he was subjected to racist abuse from some hooligan fans at the end of the game. This was not the first time he had experienced this, but instead of ignoring it as he usually did, he responded. He gave the fans a Nazi salute and made the Hitler mustache with his two fingers; a response triggered a physical attack by the hooligans and later his arrest by German police.

The justification for the arrest was that such recreations of Nazi symbolism is illegal in Germany, regardless of context. Though his arrest lasted less than a day, it throws up serious questions about the nature of German law, the racism of the supporters, and the powerlessness of minority individuals such as Adebowale. In a sense, the player was arrested for exposing the true identity of the abusive fans, and the repressive nature of German 'order'. If the law banning the Nazi salute is meant to remove this mentality/ideology from the culture, it has clearly failed. While overt Nazi-ism is not widespread in German society, it is clearly still a presence. According to the Spiegle article, this is particularly the case in the eastern states where the economy is stagnant.

From a critical multiculturalist perspective this arrest is symbolic of a conservative approach to diversity, which suggests that assimilation into the hegemonic culture is the path to stability and equality. For minorities coming into the system, they can only be integrated once they have thrown away their own heritage and language in favor of those used by the hegemon. What this is doing is repeating the narrative of European powers during their colonial periods, where they invaded foreign countries and set up institutions, laws, and schools reflecting the homeland. The native populations were only 'acceptable' as more than savages when they passes through the socialization of the new power, rejecting their native culture.

Even the liberal multiculturalist view is no more comforting. The liberal approach is to view difference as inherent and 'in-and-of-itself' rather than a product of any kind of historical context. Thus the problems in minority communities today are the result of people who simply won't "get over it." This allows a hegemonic culture to reject the need for real re-evaluation of their relationship to this community. By accepting diversity and affirming their support for it through cultural events and diversity days, the hegemon is able to maintain distance from a true understanding of the needs of that community.

So when a young black man exposes some white fans for what they really are, ethnocentric and nationalist, he is viewed as a threat to the system as a whole. His actions are not interpreted in a "performative" context, but as foolish, insulting, or inappropriate. He is then charged with "unconstitutional behavior".

But what of the fans who set Adebowale off? The club president said simply it was a on off incident and put it down to fans getting over excited.

Nationality and the round ball ~ 1/23/2008

After the meeting I wrote about below and a subsequent email response from Dr. V, the issue of nationality and soccer has been on my mind. While this will not be the focus of the project, I think it is a question worthy of some discussion in the text. Europe in general is going through some serious redefinition of its idea of nationality and the meaning of national borders, and this effects the game equally.

As Dr. V put it, the "foreign" player may suddenly lose this identity when the EU expands its borders to include the "foreigners" home land. Essentially, his or her identity has become politically meaningless and is only a personal experience. The questions to ask are, how does this change a persons relationship to their home, to their new home, to the people in their new home? I could only speculate on this without actually gong out there, but worth noting no-the-less.

On a national level, more and more players with immigrant histories and parents are playing for the adopted home nation. With names like Castro and Gonzales in the German team this becomes apparent. Also the case of Ashkan Dejagah is case and point. He is Iranian by birth, but was raised in Germany and currently plays for VFB Wolfsburg. He caused controversy this past year when he refused to play against Israel. He was quickly accused of anti-semitism, to which he responded the decision was ment to protect his Iranian family in Tehran. But he also displays nationalist tendencies towards Iran, and has "Tehran" tattooed on his wrist.

So what does "nationalism" mean in this context? In Dejagah's case, he is playing for the German national team, and yet appears to be sympathetic towards Iran, identifying himself as such. Perhaps on this level of sports, nationalism is rather meaningless in the face of fame, success on the field, and a chance at winning a World Cup. It becomes a business decision for players. The young immigrant from a nation without much soccer power choses to play for the rich European state because they will potentially go farther (as a player).

On the other side, the European countries soccer associations (like the DFB, FA, etc) are simply taking the best players they can within the legal restrictions. Clearly they are not concerned with national identity as such; perhaps the assumption is that once a player puts on the national kit, they could be nothing but loyal. It is true that legally they will never be allowed to play for another country after their first national cap.

If soccer is really nothing more than a business, then there is nothing wrong with such arrangements. To suggest otherwise can also border on racism. How can you say England or Germany, Italy or Spain should have only ethnically "pure" nationals playing on the national side? Not only is that a very questionable statement, but also totally unrealistic in a multicultural society. The popularity of soccer, and the national teams place in the national psyche does however mean its evolution effects the popular view of national identity. When this is challenged (by having "foreigners" as part of a national symbol for example) there is often a negative backlash.

Hillary ~ 1/22/2008

It's nothing to do with soccer, but worth a mention anyway.

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/7DC22855-3109-4F75-AACA-D53C0BD0E74E.htm

The public attention to the death of Sir Hillary is remarkable. Although the level is probably different in the US and Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand are really mourning his passing. I had no idea this man was so revered, nor that a climber received such notoriety.

From the article it appears that Sir Ed dedicated himself to building schools and community structures in the himalayas after his successful assent of Chomolungma (Everest). Who knew... But it is nice to see this man's popularity has persisted over the years, and that he did more for the world than just climb a mountain. Certainly his physical feat was amazing and will have taken unbelievable skill, but it is really an egoistic endeavor. Yet Hillary seems not to have been that type of individual; perhaps as a result of the magnitude of what he overcame.

From my childhood in Bavaria I am familiar with R. Messner and H. Harrer (RIP 1/7/2006) because they are/were local boys. They do have a legendary status in the Alpine region, but are not well know outside of that (except within climber circles, and with anyone who saw/read Seven Years in Tibet). In any case, I should read more on this man some time.