This fall I used Franklin Foer’s How Soccer Explains the World again in my introduction to comparative politics course. Again, I was relatively happy w/ how that went, as we tried to tie Foer’s observations back to the material we covered earlier in the semester. I was particularly happy w/ the final exam questions (all essay, all open-ended). Here they are, for your amusement:
Long Essay (pick one)
1. Foer suggests that soccer gives a window into the formation, celebration, and maintenance of national myths. Pick one of his chapters as a focus, and connect his discussion to Hobsbawm’s description of how nations are “constructed.”
2. Both Red Star Belgrade and Barcelona FC were teams that had devoted fans opposed to their country’s non-democratic regimes (communist Yugoslavia and Franco’s Spain). In these ways, they were “most similar” cases. But while Red Star Belgrade’s fans became violently xenophobic, Barcelona’s fans did not. Why do you think that is?
Short Essay (pick two)
1. Does globalization help perpetuate or undermine the sectarian conflict between Glasgow Rangers and Celtic?
2. Why does Foer believe soccer is “Islam’s hope”? Do you think he’s right?
3. Foer takes a Tocquevillian (or “political culture”) perspective on the relationship between soccer and politics. How would Marx interpret soccer’s relationship to politics?
Miguel,
Is this class an undergraduate course? If so, I absolutely love the exam. It promotes critical thinking, analysis and the obvious compare sections. Which, by the way, are skills that are a dying breed in America. Great exam!
I might be wrong, but didn't Barcelona fans used "monkey chants" against a player? On a somewhat non-related topic, I think the Chivas Rayadas' (a.k.a. rebanho sagrado) policy of only fielding Mexican players is very xenophobic.
@Orlando: Yes, this is for an undergraduate course. And I tried to design something that required students to not just repeat information, but to use what they read (and we discussed in class) to show their ability to think critically and to use basic comparative method.
@Chasqui: I'm not sure Barcelona was known for that, though it is a problem very prevalent in Europe (particularly in France!). At least in the book, the contrast is much higher. Red Star Belgrade fans were instrumental in the Balkan civil wars (Arkan's Tigers were almost exclusively recruited from RSB fan clubs like Ultra Bad Boys). In contrast, Barcelona fans are known for being lefty, cosmopolitan, and aren't usually thought of in the "hooligan" category (let alone as genocidal paramilitaries).