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The International Network for Research on Sport and Migration Issues

News & Activities

11 October 2024 

Network member Nicholas Wise has co-edited the new book The Mediating Power of Sport. Global Challenges and Sport Culture in China with Emerald. This collection addresses the questions of why China has so tightly embraced modern sport and how this interacts with China’s mediated ability to play and compete with the West, Hereby, some chapters also deal with migration issues which makes the book relevant also for scholars working in the field of sport migration.

While this collection analyses how sport is seen as a channel of observing global, political and economic challenges, contributors analyse topics including traditional sports, nationalism, football fandoms, commercialisation and esports. Offering critical insights into ‘glocalized’ sporting cultures and political hegemony, authors dig deep into common sociological theories to address issues around mediating power and China’s sport culture. Examining the relationship between sport and social transformation, contributors also reflect on how we might research the sociology of sport in China going forward.

Exploring how sporting cultures, practices and attitudes differ across cultural settings, The Mediating Power of Sport demonstrates how China has created new forms of influence through sport and considers what this might mean for how we think about soft power, international prowess and the deeper role sport can play on the world stage.

25 September 2024 

The new Handbook on Sport and Migration (Edward Elgar), co-edited by network members Mark Falcous and Katie Liston, and Joseph Maguire, has just been published. It emphasises how sport in its various forms intersects the experiences of asylum seekers, refugees, workers and migrants and how sport and migration is embedded in the wider power struggles of global sport.

Several network members have contributed chapters to the handbook, incl. Sine Agergaard, Gerard Akindes, Gijs van Campenhout, William Crossan, Paul Darby, Richard Elliot, James Esson, Roy McCree, Alan Klein, Rafaelle Poli, Dominik Schieder, Holly Thorpe and Nicholas Wise.

‘Edited by three of the most influential scholars in the global sociology of sport, the Handbook on Sport and Migration is a definitional text in the sub-field. Taking as the central foci how global sports systems are foundationally based on the flow of athletes between nations, and how such fluidity veritably shapes contemporary constructions of nationhood, space, boundaries, labour, economics, and identity/selfhood, the collection showcases theoretically compelling and substantively rich case studies from around the sporting globe. Handbook on Sport and Migration presents the most nuanced, comprehensive, comparative, and inclusive collection on sport migration from the micro-contextual to the transnational. As such, it is a clarion call for anyone fascinated with global sports studies.’
– Michael Atkinson, University of Toronto, Canada

5 September 2024 

We welcome Julia Haß (FU Berlin) as a new member of the network. Her research interests include Latin American migrant amateur football in Brazil and Europe and gender relations in (amateur) football spaces.

Julia currently works in a post-doc project entitled "Shaping belonging and local spaces in Latin American migration football contexts". In her project, she researches the shaping of belonging and of local – urban, social and political – sport spaces by Latin American migrant amateur football teams in Germany. While migrants are founding amateur football teams and clubs in major cities around the world, football has a special significance in Latin American migration contexts due to its popularity on the continent. Migrant amateur football is understood as an everyday transcultural practice and provides an opportunity for the players to establish new affiliations, with a similar origin or mother tongue having a unifying effect. In the course of their participation in local leagues and tournaments, the teams also take part in organized football in the country of arrival. How the players, teams and clubs help to shape local sport spaces through their involvement in amateur football is investigated by an ethnographic study. A particular focus is on gender-specific negotiations in football spaces that have traditionally been dominated by men.

In her previous doctoral project, Julia has studied the appropriations of geographical and social spaces by women in amateur football in Rio de Janeiro. 

2 September 2024 

Network member José Hildo de Oliveira Filho’s has participated in a podcast on his personal journey in promoting diversity and inclusion: His life is a remarkable tale of resilience, exploration, and a deep commitment to understanding the complexities of migration, identity, and inequality. From his early days in Manaus, Brazil, to his research activities in Europe, José has dedicated his life to advancing knowledge and advocating for diversity and inclusion in both academia and sports.

Key Insights:

Formative Years: José Hildo’s childhood in the Amazon fostered a profound appreciation for nature and a curiosity about the world.

Global Academic Pursuits: His educational journey took him across Brazil, Portugal, Sweden, and the Czech Republic, enriching his understanding of diversity and inclusion.

Research Impact: His book on Brazilian football players in Europe sheds light on the challenges of sports migration, including loneliness, inadequate medical care, and racial discrimination.

Commitment to Inclusion: José Hildo is a strong advocate for inclusive policies in academia and sports, emphasising the importance of empathy, collaboration, and understanding.

Lifelong Learning: His ongoing academic work reflects a lifelong dedication to learning and pushing the boundaries of knowledge.

 

29 August 2024 

Activities at the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC), organised by Carmen Rial:

IV Football Symposium - NAVI & I INCT Meeting:  140 scholars attended the meeting Brazilian Football Studies: Epistemological and Soccer Productions at UFSC (5-7 August, 2024), promoted by INCT/CNPq - National Institute of Science and Technology.

International Colloquium (INCT/CNPq): ISEF/UDELAR will host the 1st International Colloquium Social Sciences and Football - Exchange and South American Perspectives in Montevideo, 12-14 October, 2024. It is promoted by INCT/CNPq - National Institute of Science & Technology and fosters collaboration between South American researchers in the Humanities and Social Sciences: https://www.instagram.com/inctfutebol

Niko Besnier at UFSC: This semester, network member Niko Besnier (La Trobe University) will teach the seminar Body and Sport: Economy, Politics and Culture at the Interdisciplinary Postgraduate Program in Humanities (UFSC), together with Carmen Rial and Caroline Almeida. 

26 August 2024 

Network member Alessio Norrito has published a new article in Leisure Studies: "Between hope and cruel optimism? The dangers and possibilities of football in fostering hope for male refugees"

An ongoing debate exists on the role of sport for fostering hope in the lives of marginalised communities. Research acknowledges the complexity of agency, hope and emotions within sport in the lives of forced migrants and the danger of evangelical beliefs when thinking of hope as a solution to social problems. This paper presents the case of the ongoing Mediterranean crossings, where asylum-seekers go through deadly journeys to reach safety in Europe. It explores how the interplay between hope and football shapes their journeys, and how the widely popularised dreams of football success can result in extreme consequences for those willing to pursue them. It does so by taking into account primary data (n = 29 refugee participants) and secondary biographical data, of both accomplished footballers and aspiring footballers with a refugee background. Results show that there is a crucial necessity to acknowledge the multiplicity of identities and experiences contained within the refugee label. Attempts to associate refugees with conditions of stardom can be counterproductive towards beneficial outcomes, to the extent of being dangerous. Nonetheless, not all hope should be lost. The paper presents alternative avenues to better address the concept of hope in football for refugee well-being.

Keywords: Refugee footballers; sport for development; hope; well-being; affect; emotions

8 August 2024 

Network member Roy McCree has published his new book "The British, Soccer and Identity in the Caribbean. Class, Race and Nation, 1908–1973" with Routledge. 

This book examines the role of the British in the diffusion and development of soccer on the Caribbean islands of Trinidad and Tobago, in the light of issues of race, ethnicity, colour, class and national identity, in the period 1908–1973. This role was expressed in the activities of understudied organizations like the English Football Association and the British Council, as well as oil companies like Shell and British Petroleum; through the recruitment of coaches such as Jimmy Hill and Michael Laing; the staging of tours involving teams such as Chelsea, Coventry, and Arsenal in the 1960s; the formation of clubs, leagues and the construction of sporting facilities. Relatedly, it examines the role of the local middle classes in facilitating the commercialization of the game through professionalization and the operations of betting pools. The volume will help to give readers a better understanding of how the game served as a “double agent” of British hegemony and segregation, as well as integration and socio-political change in colonial and post-colonial society.

The book also examines the sporting and political significance of the early migration of soccer players from Trinidad and Tobago in the colonial and post-colonial periods of the 20th century to England, Venezuela as well as the United States as part of the game's diffusion to the island.

Congratulations, Roy!

1 July 2024 

Following its tenth anniversary in April 2024, the network has initiated a couple of changes to its exisiting format, management and direction. 

Most visibly, the network's website has moved from its current host (Aalborg University, and formerly Aarhus University) to its new independent platform www.sportmigration.net. 

Sine Agergaard, Nina Clara Tiesler and Paul Darby have stepped down from their position as members of the board. Christian Ungruhe, Mari Haugaa Engh and Carmen Rial have joined the board and will manage it together with the longstanding board members Mark Falcous and Alan Klein. 

Our aspiration for the coming years is to stress on interactive participation, encouraging collaboration and developing research in the broad field of sports and migration. Hereby, we build on Sine's, Nina Clara's and Paul's inspiring work and network initiatives - many thanks to the three of you!

We are happy to receive suggestions and thoughts from members and people interested in sports and migration issues - feel free to get in touch and let us know: christian.ungruhe@uni-passau.de.

Looking forward to fruitful collaboration,

Christian Ungruhe, Mari Engh, Mark Falcous, Alan Klein & Carmen Rial

 

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