Andrew Simpson
How soccer explains
Globalization
There
has been lots of speculation on whether globalization is a good thing or a bad
thing. I believe that there is a clear position that globalization will lead to
improved quality of life for more people, access to more resources, and fewer
reasons for global conflict. These are just a couple of the benefits that come
from nations taking part in globalization. However there are those that believe
that globalization will bring nothing but negative outcomes for most nations.
It has been said that globalization can only be achieved in today’s world if it
is under a national sovereignty. By looking at the ideas expressed in “How
Soccer Explains the World” by Franklin Foer, I believe we can see how soccer
shows us that it is possible to achieve globalization and still keep national
identities.
In
the reading Foer uses the fact that soccer has recently become more popular
world wide as a metaphor for globalization. However with all the changes that
have come with global attention to soccer we see that national identity is
still around and as strong as ever. Foer first talks about how we see many
long-standing rivalries in soccer still around and still taken as seriously as
ever. Also, while some teams popularity has grown immensely it is still very
easy to locate the influence of the team’s original culture. While some people
would say that globalization causes a loss of nationality, we see through
soccer that with global attention nationalism can still be preserved. It seems
that a lot of discern towards globalizations comes from a fear of conforming to
a national sovereignty. If we use soccer as a model we can see that expanding
globally could lead to better outcomes for everyone.
I
believe that globalization brings lots of benefits to many nations. We see
things like countries gain access to resources they didn’t have before and we
can see the end of conflicts through global cooperation. The biggest fear
surrounding globalization is the loss of national identity. Using the ideas set
in place by Foer and using soccer as a model we can argue that globalization
will not take away from nationalism. Soccer’s popularity has gone up as of
recently and we still see teams having a strong national identity. Using this
as a metaphor for globalization we can see nations benefit from expanding
globally and still keeping their national identity.
I like how you present the notion of being able to have a globalized world without eliminating national identities.This idea is definitely evident in the global spread of soccer and increased popularity of the World Cup. This event has brought the global community together, while each state remains tied to their national identity.
ReplyDeleteI think you point out some really important benefits of globalization. I like how brought up these benefits instead of just talking about how globalization and nationalism can co-exist. When I think of a globalized world, I tend to think of the more negative aspects like loss of culture, nationalism, uniqueness, etc. but you show a different side of the topic that usually isn't talked about.
ReplyDeleteYou make some good points, and I agree that globalization probably will not just overcome all local cultural institutions. Indeed, at times it seems like globalization only enforces these local institutions, through economic sources and the desire for capital. However, when these local institutions are enforced, bad things can certainly happen too. Foer talks about this when he states that globalization has not done anything to get rid of tribalism, one of the worst forms of nationalism. While we in the United States might not want to give up our cultural identity, aren't there some places that might benefit from losing their tribalistic identities?
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