“Theories of Race:”
Michael Banton runs through the evolution of the idea of Race, ultimately saying that Race is an antiquated idea. The European world began to try to document the world and their place in it, which brought about scientific racism, or the promoting of the white “race” over the different kinds. This continued through the Darwin times and started to change in the early 20th century. Early social science began saying the racism was learning in the 1920s and now is less of an overt problem, but is becoming more subtle thing.
“Race:”
Mikaila and Lemonik set up a similar argument to Banton, but also add cultural context. They say that “while people have always found ways to stratify and differentiate in-groups from out-groups, the concept of race emerged relatively recently in human history.” (pg. 5) This is important with the context of the nation because nationalism often relied on a created alienation to rally around, which racism also accomplished. Another interesting quote is from W.I. Thomas, who said “if people define a situation as real, it is real in its consequences.” (pg. 6) This quote can also relate to the idea of the nation and culture and can be used to reflect either the building of the national identity, with or without racism. This also reflects an understanding the situation of having multiple nations within one country, like the Vasques or Catalans in Spain.
“Sport and Race:”
Carrington gives a great short summary of race, saying “… racial distinctions are based on arbitrarily chosen physical features, such as skin color and hair texture, that are used to demarcate people into groups. Thus, “race” is a complex system of representation learned through socialization, and then acted upon as if these distinctions were ‘real.’” (pg. 9) This is a quick and easy definition of race. Carringtons notes that sports are often used as forms of political resistance, like how Barcelona became the cultural center for Catalans and their team became more than just a soccer team when they were under the regime of Franco.
“Nation and Nationalism:”
Miller gives a great summary of the ideas between nation and nationalism. The “imagined communities” article is a really fascinating idea. Ultimately, the interesting things are in the problems with nationality. Miller says, “What are we to say about groups such as the Basques, the Québecois and the Scots, who appear to identify with larger nations but also have distinct identities of their own.” (pg. 18) How does this play into sports? The Spanish national team has players from the different regions of Spain and most of the northern regions want more freedom from the central government. What significance do people put into the players and how does their resistance play into the political game of resistance?
“Nation-State and Nationalism:”
Cox walks through the different definitions of the nation-state and nationalism and lists 5 solutions. Ultimately, Benedict Andersons “imagined communities” argument works best. Cox also has criticism of this argument, but it doesn’t necessarily hold up. He says, “Anderson’s emphasis on imagination has been criticized for dissolving the nation into a chimera that is no more than the sum of its cultural representations.” (pg. 25) Isn’t the nation able to get around this and use the idea imagined communities for their benefit? The ideological power of nationalism has the ability to play of these imagined communities and use it to “other” something for the nation to rally around and isn’t necessarily a criticism of Anderson’s argument.
“Nationalism and Sport:”
While sports and nationalism have been tied together for a long time, like with mountaineering before and during World War I, Bairner argues that this is changing. He says that many people have “ninety-minute patriotism” and cultural nationalism, rather than a full commitment towards their particular region, if it is different from the larger nation. This argument seems to make sense, although I’m not sure if I agree with it when you compare what the GAA originally did for the Irish, which was to help have Ireland get its own national team.
“Mapping the global football field:”
Guilianotti and Robertson use soccer as a means of describing globalism and how it is affecting the world today. They list many benefits that the sport has brought to the global stage and also some of the problems. The support of “…national government organizations, international government organizations, non-governmental international organizations and transnational corporations” have added many benefits, despite struggling with the problems of capitalism. They all ultimately have “… a corresponding set of specific collective interests, ideologies, and social, political, and economic policies.” (Guilianotti and Robertson, 217) While they point out problems, like the club versus country debate, problems with merchandizing and selling the brands of organizations, ultimately soccer has been an advantageous place. This can be seen through their example of England when black players resisted racist abuse, or with the large club involvement with charities.