Description
Book SynopsisAs the world's most popular game, soccer is unique in its ability to reflect and impact culture, society, and politics. Beyond Soccer: International Relations and Politics as Seen through the Beautiful Game provides students with a new and innovative way to learn about political science and international relations. It uses soccer players, officials, fans, and organizations to teach political science conceptssuch as geopolitics, discourses, and sovereigntyand IR theoriesincluding realism, liberalism, and feminism. This text also incorporates three common soccer discourses to highlight the possibilities of soccer as a tool for unity and social change, as a defender of established power, and as simultaneously a mechanism used by established power and an engine for social resistance.With exercises, discussion questions, and keywords included in each chapter, Beyond Soccer is a worthwhile and accessible educational tool. Primarily written for undergraduate students of all levels, this book
Trade ReviewSome scholars maintain that soccer contributes to international peace relations. Others argue soccer spreads conflict and leads to war. Tamir Bar-On argues that soccer can actually work both ways, depending on the context. Beyond Soccer is a must read for anyone interested in examining the role of sports in international relations, particularly “the beautiful game.” -- Danyel Reiche, associate professor for comparative politics, American University of Beirut
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction Chapter 1: Theory and International Relations Theories in Brief Chapter 2: Realism, Liberalism, and Marxism Chapter 3: Constructing Identities: Straddling the Local, National, and Global Chapter 4: Learning about Postcolonialism through Soccer Chapter 5: “You Just Don’t Understand”: A Feminist Reading of the “Beautiful Game” Chapter 6: FIFA, Realism, and Emancipatory IR Theory Chapter 7: Three Competing Soccer Discourses Chapter 8: The Geopolitics of Soccer Chapter 9: Soccer, Sovereignty, and the State of Exception Conclusion Selected Bibliography Index About the Author
