''How Soccer Explains the World: An Unlikely Theory of Globalization'' (also published as ''How Football Explains the World: An Unlikely Theory of Globalization'') is a book written by American journalist

Franklin Foer Franklin Foer (; born July 20, 1974) is a staff writer at ''The Atlantic'' and former editor of ''The New Republic'', commenting on contemporary issues from a liberal perspective. Personal life Foer was born in 1974 to a Jewish family. He is th ...

. It is an analysis of the interchange between

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

and the new global economy. The author takes readers on a journey from stadium to stadium around the globe in an attempt to shed new insights on today's world events, both from political and economic standpoints. Soccer is here the globalized medium that seems to lend itself to explaining the effects globalization has on society as a whole.

Themes

Failure of globalization

In the first couple of chapters, Franklin Foer addresses "the failure of globalization to erode ancient hatreds in the game’s great rivalries," which is associated with football hooligans. The book continues on and talks about sectarian conflicts between supporters of

Celtic F.C. The Celtic Football Club, commonly known as Celtic (), is a Scottish professional football club based in Glasgow, which plays in the Scottish Premiership. The club was founded in 1887 with the purpose of alleviating poverty in the immigran ...

and

Rangers F.C. Rangers Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the Govan district of Glasgow which plays in the Scottish Premiership. Although not its official name, it is often referred to as Glasgow Rangers outside Scotland. The fou ...

(the

Old Firm The Old Firm is the collective name for the Scottish football clubs Celtic and Rangers, which are both based in Glasgow. The two clubs are by far the most successful and popular in Scotland, and the rivalry between them has become deeply em ...

) in Scotland and the tendency of supporters of

Tottenham Hotspur F.C. Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

and

AFC Ajax Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax (), also known as AFC Ajax, Ajax Amsterdam, or simply Ajax, is a Dutch professional football club based in Amsterdam, that plays in the , the top tier in Dutch football. Historically, Ajax (named after the l ...

to appropriate Jewish symbols and terminology, which results in conflicting views between things such as the

antisemitic Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

chants and taunts.

Rise of corporate hegemons

In the second part of the text, the author uses soccer "to address economics: the consequences of migration, the persistence of corruption, and the rise of powerful new oligarchs like

Silvio Berlusconi Silvio Berlusconi ( ; ; born 29 September 1936) is an Italian media tycoon and politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy in four governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011. He was a member of the Chamber of Deputies ...

, the President of othItaly and the

AC Milan Associazione Calcio Milan (), commonly referred to as AC Milan or simply Milan, is a professional football club in Milan, Italy, founded in 1899. The club has spent its entire history, with the exception of the 1980–81 and 1982–83 seasons ...

club".

Persistence of nationalism and tribalism

In the final part, Foer uses soccer "to defend the virtues of old-fashioned nationalism", as "a way to blunt the return of tribalism".

Reception

The book received positive reviews in ''The New York Times'' and ''The Washington Post''. Critics for ''The San Francisco Chronicle'' and ''The Boston Globe'' praised Foer's portrait of the soccer world while dismissing his larger arguments.

References

External links

''How Soccer Explains the World''
interview with Foer about the book in ''

Mother Jones Mary G. Harris Jones (1837 (baptized) – November 30, 1930), known as Mother Jones from 1897 onwards, was an Irish-born American schoolteacher and dressmaker who became a prominent union organizer, community organizer, and activist. She h ...

''
''How Soccer Explains the World''
on

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:How Soccer Explains The World 2004 non-fiction books Association football books Books about globalization HarperCollins books