During a recent visit to the Camp Hill B&N, on a lark, I purchased How Soccer Explains the World: An Unlikely Theory of Globalization, by Franklin Foer (a New Republic editor). I only started it last night, but I’m already heavily engrossed. Foer’s a good writer—and he’s well-read in social theory & political history.
Here’s a related offering: Offside: Soccer & American Exceptionalism by Andrei Markovits (U of M) & Steve Hellerman (PhD candidate, CGU). It’s based on a Hobsbawm quote about the US & soccer. And another by Simon Kuper (a journalist for Financial Times), called Soccer Against the Enemy, which seems to focus on how authoritarian regimes use soccer for their own purposes (think the 1978 World Cup).
While I can’t speak to these other two books (and I’m sure there are others), the Foer book is just brilliant. Basically, I think it’s a great book for undergrads (or anyone else) interested in thinking about globalization w/ a more nuanced (K8 would say “ethnographic”) perspective.
Nice blog--always good to have more political scientists. Coincidentally, I received that book as a birthday present, but haven't gotten to it yet, so I'm glad to hear that it's good.