Reinforcing, Crossing, and Transcending Borders: Soccer in a Globalized World (Athens, Greece. 2017)

September 4th - 6th, 2017

Following up on its 2016 conference, “Soccer as a Global Phenomenon,” The Weatherhead Initiative on Global History (WIGH) at Harvard University is happy to announce a second event, “Reinforcing, Crossing, and Transcending  Borders: Soccer in a Globalized World.”

Referred to as the global game and embodying many different aspects of globalization, soccer has increasingly become the focus of scholarly research, the topic of media inquiry and the subject of creative work looking to understand the sport from both a local and a global perspective. Recognizing the importance of borders and border crossings to soccer’s growth into a major sport and to soccer’s relation to cultural, economic, political and social issues, this conference will look to examine how borders, boundaries and international movement have influenced the sport’s development.  In hopes of gaining a broad perspective, we are interested in submissions that include but are not exclusive to subjects such as: players and coaches who have played and coached abroad, fans who root from a distance, clubs who are concerned with global justice, the impact social media has had on the game’s international allure, and the influence national and local teams and regional and international governing bodies have had on immigration discussions. The conference will focus on these types of issues with the hopes of better understanding how soccer’s institutional framework, governing practices and international reach both facilitate border crossings, reify boundaries, and create global spaces. 

Conveners:

  • Sven Beckert, Laird Bell Professor of History, Harvard University
  • Stephen Ortega, Associate Professor of History, Simmons College
  • Yağmur Nuhrat, Instructor of Sociology, Bilgi University
  • Daren Graves, Associate Professor of Education, Simmons College 

Initiator of Conference Series: Cemal Kafadar, Vehbi Koç Professor of Turkish Studies, Harvard University

Program

Day 1 Tuesday 5 September

09:00 Welcome Coffee

09:30 Panel 1: Citizenship and Belonging

  • “The sporting men have no country! Football as a social field for inter-ethnic understanding in the post-Yugoslav space?"
    Dario Brentin, University Assistant, University of Graz, Austria
  • “For Many Young Refugees, Soccer Is a Path to Assimilation”
    Mike Hopps, Director of Editorial Services, Development Services Group, Inc., USA
  • “Who Belongs to the Nation? Sport, Migration and Citizenship Changes”
    Gijsbert Oonk, Associate Professor of Global History, Erasmus University, the Netherlands
  • Panel Moderator: Daren Graves, Associate Professor, Education Department, Simmons College, USA

11:30 Panel 2: Community Building

  • "The Role of Football in Peace-Building and Conflict Resolution"
    Richard Giulianotti, Professor of Sociology, Loughborough University, UK
  • “The Fount of Africa’s Postcolonial Futures? On Youth, Football and a Moral Politics of Future-Making out of the Right to Dream Academy, Ghana”
    Darragh McGee, Assistant Professor, University of Bath, UK=
  • “Queer Mobilities Within and Across Soccer Spaces”
    Deniz Aktan, PhD Candidate in Sociology, Bogazici University
  • Panel Moderator: Daren Graves, Associate Professor, Education Department, Simmons College, USA

13:30 Lunch Buffet at “Vammos” Restaurant

14:45 Refugee Roundtable

  • Petros Kokkalis, Deputy Mayor of Piraeus, Director for the football club Elpida
  • Burkal Efe Sakızlıoğlu, Chairman, Fans Supporters Rights Association Turkey
  • Mark Doidge, Football Supporters Europe, Senior Research Fellow, Brighton University
  • Metin Davudovic, Fans Supporters Rights Association Turkey, Hastings United Academy Coordinator=
  • Panel Moderator: Amanda Lucia Munoz de Toro Alimonda, Coordinator of Advocates Abroad, providing free legal counsel to refugees in Europe

Day 2 Wednesday 6 September

09:00 Panel 3: Transnational Fandom

  • “I Love Messi and My Shirt Says Messi Loves Me”
    Tamar Rapoport, Professor Emerita of Sociology, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel, and Columbia University
  • "Fandom at Work: The Salt Lake Stadium, Supporters Clubs and encounters of Organized Fandom in Contemporary Kolkata"
    Rohan Sengupta, PhD Candidate, Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta, India
  • "Expanding borders, expanding quarrels: rethinking transnational fandom through Turkish diaspora soccer fans"
    John McManus, Postdoctoral Fellow, British Institute at Ankara, Turkey
  • “Transnational soccer fan identities and cultures in Zimbabwe: Globalisation, glocalisation, appropriation and hybridization”
    Manase Kudzai Chiweshe, Senior Lecturer: Chinhoyi University of Technology, Harare, Zimbabwe
  • Panel Moderator: Stephen Ortega, Associate Professor and Director of the Graduate Program in History/Archives Management, Simmons College, USA

11:00 Panel 4: Expats and Migration

  • “Brazilian Expatriated Footballers: Crossing, and Transcending Borders”
    Carmen Rial, Professor of Anthropology, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Brazil
  • "Mexican-American Futboleros in Greater Mexico: Crossing and Transcending Borders"
    Romeo Guzman, Assistant Professor in U.S. and Public History, California State University Fresno, USA
  • “Football Im/mobilities: West African Perspectives”
    Christian Ungruhe, Post-Doctoral Researcher, Aarhus University, Denmark
  • Panel Moderator: Stephen Ortega, Associate Professor and Director of the Graduate Program in History/Archives Management, Simmons College, USA

12:45 Player Roundtable

  • Temryss Maclean Lane, MA in American Indian Studies, University of California, Los Angeles. Former player for Ajax America Women and Balinge, Sweden.
  • Christian Karembeu is Strategic Advisor for Olympiacos F.C. he played professionally from 1990-2006 for several teams, including Real Madrid, Olympiacos F.C. and the 1998 World Cup-winning French National Team.
  • Antonios Nikopolidis, Under 21 Greek National Team Coach, Former Olympiacos F.C. and Greek National Team Goalkeeper
  • Lilian Thuram, Former French National Team, FC Barcelona and Juventus Player and Human Rights Activist, Head of Lilian Thuram Foundation: Education against Racism
  • Panel Moderator: Leanne Doherty Mason, Simmons College Arts and Sciences Dean; author of Level Playing Field for All: Female Leadership and Athletics

14:30 Lunch Buffet at “Vammos” Restaurant

Wrap-Up and Closing Remarks