Beyond Soccer

International Relations and Politics as Seen through the Beautiful Game

By (author) Tamir Bar-On

Publication date:

17 August 2017

Length of book:

340 pages

Publisher

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Dimensions:

239x161mm
6x9"

ISBN-13: 9781442275423

As 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 concepts—such as geopolitics, discourses, and sovereignty—and IR theories—including 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 will be valuable in political science, international relations, cultural studies, and sociology courses.

Acknowledgments
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

Some 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.”