How Soccer Explains the World : An Unlikely Theory of Globalization

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining and informative read
Review: Foer's "How Soccer Explains the World: An Unlikely Theory of Globalization" does a great job of offering snapshots of current affairs and explaining them through the prism of soccer. It captures a lot of the globalism's effects on soccer as a business and the fans. It spares us from a dry academic look at global economics or soccer fandom. It sacrifices some of the depth that an academic approach would offer. However, this is a very entertaining read.
The snapshots are interesting. His segment on British hooliganism focused on Chelsea (a team controlled by a Russian oligarch in a section of london that is more middle class than working class). Some other teams have more notorious thugs, but Chelsea is a team that is dealing with fresh money and lots of upheaval. The chapter on Serb nationalism and soccer is chilling. You have sympathy for the Nigerian player in Ukraine that hopes to play for a Western European team. You wince about the corruption in Brazilian soccer and how it is symptomatic of the bigger issues in Brazilian society.
The book does a great job of illustrating symptoms but does not get too deep about the root causes of some of the problems in globalization.

Rating:
Summary: its the globalization, not the soccer
Review: Americans, even those who follow soccer, are going to miss the point of this book. It is primarily about globalization and not simply about soccer. Soccer simply makes the case more interesting. This book fits well with stories coming out of the European football championship this summer. These stories commented on the rabid nationalism that accompanies national teams in such a championship, while at the same time noting that those attending used the common currency and shared the freedom of travel found within the EU. Another feature of this was the fact that so many of the players competing against each other for national teams are teammates on top club sides through out Europe. This is a function of the rules of trade within the EU, as any American footballer trying to get a work permit there knows. It also will be viewed as alien by Americans who view life through the prism of the NFL. Foer's point is that the globalization of soccer football, including the conflicts as well as breakouts, is matching the globalization occuring in other ways thoroughout the world. Foer's book should be read along side material such as Robert Cooper's The Breaking of Nations, rather than the sports stories which which it is being compared. It should be read by Americans who want to understand the world beyond our own shores.

Rating:
Summary: I really enjoyed this book
Review: Been the rare Brazilian-born male who does not play soccer or drink coffee, I was nevertheless very entertained and intrigued by this book. Mr. Foer's grasp of the Brazilian (at least the "carioca") soul is remarkable for someone who has never lived in the country and who does not speak Portuguese. Maybe because I have lived abroad for many years, this book brought back memories of the sultriness of the language, mixed with the passion for soccer, and, if not true devotion, at least a cultural awareness in regards to Roman Catholicism ... all of which make Brazil unique.

Rating:
Summary: Misplaced elegance
Review: Certain theories have a simple and elegant beauty so compelling that it is tempting to feel it doesn't matter if they are wrong, and author and journalist Franklin Foer's premise that soccer can be used to explain everything from the disintegration of Yugoslavia to the growing distrust of globalization makes a good attempt at fitting that description. Trouble is, the theory is very wrong and the result is a disappointing even if entertaining 272 pages.

It should be said that Mr. Foer cut no corners in trying to prove his improvable thesis, and that legwork does create a book that will be both enjoyable and informative -- especially for readers able to take the main points with a grain of salt.

The best part is the beginning, starting with a chilling account of the massacres in Croatia and Bosnia in the early 1990s and their connection to the Serbian thugs who often pass as soccer fans. Mr. Foer moves from there to Glasgow and the century long warfare there between Catholic and Protestant fans. Based on these lessons, Mr. Foer makes his best point: modernization and a general rise in sophistication have very often failed to reduce tribal rivalries even in advanced societies, and that soccer is a catalyst for that. He explains, a city like Glasgow "has kept alive its soccer tribalism, despite the logic of history, because it provides the city with a kind of pornographic pleasure.''

Mr. Foer also does a good job of explaining why the beautiful games has failed to really catch on in the United States, placing the blame on the "American soccer cognoscenti" who he says invite abuse by being snobs who "admire soccer like a fine slab of imported goat cheese; they come from neighborhoods with spectacularly high Starbucks-per-capita, so they lack any semblance of burning working-class passion.'' Ouch!

But the basic point that soccer can be used to explain the worldwide rise in nationalism or the vague prospects for Islamic democracy is not served by the engaging retelling of these wonderful stories (and there are many more than those mentioned here).

What the book fails to recognize (at least overtly) is that even though the world's most popular sport can be linked to many cultural phenomena, that in no way means it can explain them. And no matter what I and other reviewers -- and even the author himself, if you can decipher his cryptic implications -- write to make that point, some people will read it and accept the general idea as fact. No matter how elegantly it is presented, that doesn't make it right.

Rating:
Summary: This is very familiar ground
Review: Foer is an excellent writer, and for those who aren't familiar with the history of the sport this is an excellent introduction. For those who are already well-read on football, much of this will be too familiar. The religious and political context of the Celtic v. Rangers rivalry, the laughable corruption of Brazilian football, and basically every other story in this book has already been covered by other writers. Though the globalization theme tries to bring a new perspective to these old stories, it just feels gimmicky. If you've already read Simon Kuper's FOOTBALL AGAINST THE ENEMY you'll regret spending your money here. If you haven't read Kuper's book, but you're interested in the sport, buy it immediately. This is light reading designed for those who know nothing about the sport's history. For those looking for more depth and more entertainment, skip this and go straight to Kuper, David Winner's BRILLIANT ORANGE, and Alex Bellos' FUTEBOL: SOCCER, THE BRAZILIAN WAY. All three are excellent, entertaining, and provide more insight into the topics Foer touches on. To summarize: the typical American reader with limited soccer knowledge will enjoy this, those with real interest in the subject would do well to move on to more meaty fare.

Rating:
Summary: This is well-trod ground
Review: Foer is an excellent writer, but for football fans who read a lot about the sport, much of this will seem overly familiar. Though he does his best to bring a new perspective to these stories, his focus on globalization still ends up feeling gimmicky. The religious and political aspects of the Celtic v. Rangers rivalry, the ludicrous corruption of Brazilian football, and many of the other stories here have been well-covered by writers like Simon Kuper, Alex Bellos and others. While I think Foer's name and reputation might help introduce non-fans to some of football's fascinating history--and that's a good thing--football fans who are well-read on the topic will wonder why Foer bothered writing what's already been written. For an introduction to the history of the sport, this isn't bad at all, but Kuper's book is better. Those who are truly interested should skip this and read Kuper's FOOTBALL AGAINST THE ENEMY, David Winner's BRILLIANT ORANGE, and Alex Bellos's FUTEBOL: SOCCER, THE BRAZILIAN WAY. This is not a bad book, but there's nothing new here and other writers have said it better.

Rating:
Summary: Redhawk
Review: I am a soccer fan an have a great interest in culture and history. This book did little to enlightment any of those subjects. As other reviewers have said it starts out rather depressingly, but then where I differ with others is that it doesn't get much better. I love the game of soccer and this book makes it into a rather depressing sport throughout. When one tries to explain a culture through sports, especially international soccer, one better have the historical ties nailed down, not just based one on because somebody told me so, or I think so kind of conclusions. Finally, I don't think there was much of a point to the book other than the author got to see a few great stadiums and teams play. For that I'm envious. There are other books like "Soccer in Sun and Shadow", or a 'Season With Verona" that can give on a better feel of soccer and culture.

Rating:
Summary: oh dear
Review: I picked this up when in the States; a football loving Brit who watches games around the world wanting to read a 'yank's' take on the beautiful game.

The author writes well. It is a fun read, but since getting back to England I've gained many cheap laughs by reading excerpts out loud.You have to trust an author when he states something as fact, but whenever I came across something I had personal knowledge of he gets it wrong.

His chapter on Ukrainian racism ends with him saying the racist abuse of black players there is not as bad as in England.Racist abuse was bad here 30 years ago, but disappeared many years ago.He talks of Iranian players `emigrating to play in English football- there's not one. He refers to the 1998 World Game, Germany v Iran, and says the`stadium was full of pro democracy Iranians. It was not. I was at that game . The stadium was full of Germans. And as for his`piece on Tottenham- someone was clearly winding him up.

This might seem picky, but instances like these made me suspect what he was saying about things I knew nothing about. If you want to read about football, pick up Simon Kuper's book 'Football against the enemy',David Winner's ' Brilliant Orange' and Pete Davie's brilliant 'All Played Out'. This book explained nothing












Rating:
Summary: Not quite what the title promises
Review: Let me start by saying that I enjoyed the book if only because the author writes well, and because each chapter lets you get a good glimpse into the way the game is played around the world. Basically, each chapter reads like a good New Yorker article, and certainly there's nothing wrong with that.

The downside is that the book's title is misleading. The book is pretty short on theory. It offers little in the way of a theoretical take on globalization, on how the world works. You can't help but think that the whole "theory" idea was a bit of an afterthought. I can almost imagine someone down the line wondering how to market the book better, how to make it more relevant and zippy, and that's what they came up with. Not that this is a real condemnation of the book. You should just know what to expect and what not to expect of it.

Rating:
Summary: Better in parts than the whole: theory doesn't wow a reader
Review: The opening chapter with Red Star Belgrade delivers a punch, literally and figuratively, From there, the book settles into a series of respectable journalistic essays that offer few lasting "aha" moments while giving glimpses into the international trade that sits atop the regional and local and sectarian identities marketed by local teams. I've always wondered how a city's fans respond to players drawn from the whole planet playing for passionately tribal crowds, and Foer gives an accessible account of, as in the Nigerians playing for Ukraine's Lviv Karpaty, how this exchange occurs.

The Italian, Brazilian, Celtic-Rangers, and Chelsea chapters disappointed me a bit. The lesson that countries play as their ideologies dictate is fascinating, and I think this could've been highlighted even more throughout the book as a guiding metaphor. It's more workable than--as Foer hints a forward about contrasting globalization pre- and post-9/11--the capitalist-expanding markets theory, which is unwieldy when Foer has to come up with a jumble of its positives and negatives. Congrats, however, on his correctly dissing Juventus and Man U as the types of teams that are bought and play more as commodities or true "franchises" than many of their rivals. The whole marketing aspect and corporate tie-ins arise throughout the narrative, but lack in-depth investigation, which I think would have been more engrossing than rather pedestrian coverage of Brazil and Italy's power struggles behind the teams, of all places in the world. these two football giants are made mundane here.

The Rangers coverage, for example, does not rise above the commonplace except when covering the first nominally Catholic player for the Rangers in the 90s. The transfer to Ulster of the sectarian rivalry is carefully explained, in that the North of Ireland since 1949 lacks a "Catholic" team on the prominent level, but Foer seems to have spent little time here as his quick take on Belfast is only that of thousands of previous reporters.

His Barca enthusiasm comes through, and reminds me of Nick Hornby's Arsenal love-hate affair chronicled in Fever Pitch. Elsewhere, looks into the Jewish connection to football teams shows a fresh angle, but even here, ending with only an aside on MTK Budapest leaving that chapter dangling and weakened. The section on the American lack of support for the game shows clever observations but its brevity, unlike seemingly endless chapters on Italy and Brazil, makes the book's end anti-climactic.

All in all, this book raises in short bursts more excitement than its thesis can sustain. Foer's better taken in small doses than an extended book, and this volume feels like an anthology of pieces rather than a full-fledged study of an admittedly great topic that he was lucky to take on. I only wish more of his personal passion for the game, shown in the Barca segment, enlivened the rest of what too often sags into feature articles that could've been reprinted from any thoughtful sports writer.