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A review by jamesvw
How Soccer Explains the World: An Unlikely Theory of Globalization by Franklin Foer
4.0
This is a travelogue more than an actual comprehensive theory of globalization as the cover suggests, but it is just so much fun that its tenuous hold on a thesis hardly matters. I can imagine that those who care little about soccer will not garner nearly as much enjoyment, but with Ajax pride pulsing in my blood, it kept me fascinated and smiling throughout.
Without going into each chapter, Foer leaves two of his best for near the end - humorously fusing his passion for FC Barcelona with an intriguing exploration of Catalonia and its cultural separation from Castillian Madrid with team pride there contributing to complacency under Franco's repression - and convincingly noting the reverse cultural split of Americans who play the game, here mostly existing as a sport for the elite, whereas it is often a working class sports in European and Latin American countries.
Without going into each chapter, Foer leaves two of his best for near the end - humorously fusing his passion for FC Barcelona with an intriguing exploration of Catalonia and its cultural separation from Castillian Madrid with team pride there contributing to complacency under Franco's repression - and convincingly noting the reverse cultural split of Americans who play the game, here mostly existing as a sport for the elite, whereas it is often a working class sports in European and Latin American countries.