HIST-LIT 90HN: Soccer, Globalization, and Urban Life

Instructor: Bruno Carvalho
Meeting time: Tuesday, 12:45-2:45 pm

What can we learn about the modern world through the prism of soccer? The game evolved as globalization intensified and cities boomed. In this seminar, we will explore historical, cultural, political, and aesthetic dimensions of this relationship. Soccer can both exemplify and contradict broader patterns of globalization. Likewise, stadiums and playing fields can be understood as microcosms of the city, or spaces of exception within it. Tracing histories and literatures tied to the game, we will examine how it has captivated the imaginations of so many across time and place, while also considering transformations in stadium design, mass media, and migration. In the process, we will discuss the uses of soccer by authoritarian regimes, as well as its more liberating potentials. Reflections on soccer’s place in changing global and local landscapes will invite questions of how, amid deep inequalities, the sport might function both as the proverbial ‘opium of the masses’ and as a powerful congregator. Special attention will be given to how Latin America, a relatively peripheral region in geopolitics, became a key protagonist in the global game. Discussions will draw on fields including philosophy, architecture, and journalism, engaging materials like fiction, essays, and film. No prior enthusiasm for the sport is required or expected.