South Africa and the Global Game ~ Paperback

Firmly situating South African teams, players, and associations in the international framework in which they have to compete, South Africa and the Global Game: Football, Apartheid, and Beyond presents an interdisciplinary analysis of how and why South Africa underwent a remarkable transformation from a pariah in world sport to the first African host of a World Cup in 2010. Written by an eminent team of scholars, this special issue and book aims to examine the importance of football in South African society, revealing how the black oppression transformed a colonial game into a force for political, cultural and social liberation. It explores how the hosting of the 2010 World Cup aims to enhance the prestige of the post-apartheid nation, to generate economic growth and stimulate Pan-African pride. Among the themes dealt with are race and racism, class and gender dynamics, social identities, mass media and culture, and globalization. This collection of original and insightful essays will appeal to specialists in African Studies, Cultural Studies, and Sport Studies, as well as to non-specialist readers seeking to inform themselves ahead of the 2010 World Cup. This book was published as a special issue of Soccer and Society.Author BiographyPeter Alegi is an Assistant Professor of History at Michigan State University, USA, where he teaches courses in southern African history, leisure and popular culture, and global sport. Alegi is the author of Laduma! Soccer, Politics, and Society in South Africa (University of KwaZulu-Natal Press, 2004), as well as many journal articles and chapters in scholarly volumes. He is a Book Reviews Editor for Soccer and Society. Chris Bolsmann is Lecturer in Sociology at Aston University, UK. His research focuses on the transformation and marketisation of higher education; football and identity in post-apartheid South Africa; and trade unions and internationalism. He has published in Soccer and Society; Society in Transition; Historical Studies in Industrial Relations; Globalisation, Education and Societies; and the South African Labour Bulletin amongst others.