Buenos Aires based CLACSO has produced a fascinating compendium of articles about the World Cup, examining its importance for a number of countries in the Region. You can read CLACSO’s blog here and download each of the five ‘Cuadernos’ (notebooks) of articles about the Cup and what it means for the aspirations and politics of the countries taking part.
Featured articles include:
* Las Elecciones, el espejismo de un solo pueblo y la Copa Mundo: Apuntes desde Brasil sobre las campañas del gobierno Santos y de la seleción de Colombia –David Leonardo Quitián
* Artigas y Suárez: el “lugar” del fútbol en la sociedad Uruguaya –Gerardo Caetano
* Ver el Mundial sin Perú –Victor Vich
* Maracaná 2014: La ex-guerrillera y el dictador –Guillermo Alonso Meneses
* Brasil 2014: El Mundial e lo social –Fernando Carrión Mena
As Executive Secretary, Pablo Gentili, explains: “We felt that an organisation such as CLACSO could not ignore, decline to take any position, refuse to debate so many aspects of the greatest sporting spectacle on the planet. We hope we have achieved our aim. You, our readers will judge and help us to evaluate our work.
“We are perfectly well aware that the world has not come to a halt during these four weeks of infernal football. All the great problems of humanity remain. Arrogance and imperial brutality continue to take innocent lives in Gaza and Syria, amidst the indifference of the world at large. Hundreds of Africans have vainly tried to cross the Mediterranean, fleeing from violence and misery. Millions of Latin American men and women have continued to live in extreme poverty, abandoned and neglected. The crimes and impunity of the powerful still undermine human rights and the values which should sustain them. Vulture funds persist with their efforts to destroy the financial systems of our countries. The world hasn’t stopped and it hasn’t changed after these four weeks of football and uncontrolled hysteria. We know this.
“But we also know that critical thinking is an indispensable aid to the struggle for emancipation. We don’t think that this is incompatible with being excited by football, expressing strong emotions and intense suffering in relation to the sport; while at the same time trying to understand the phenomenon and expressing our commitment to the struggles of all those who seek to build a better world.”
Featured articles include:
* Las Elecciones, el espejismo de un solo pueblo y la Copa Mundo: Apuntes desde Brasil sobre las campañas del gobierno Santos y de la seleción de Colombia –David Leonardo Quitián
* Artigas y Suárez: el “lugar” del fútbol en la sociedad Uruguaya –Gerardo Caetano
* Ver el Mundial sin Perú –Victor Vich
* Maracaná 2014: La ex-guerrillera y el dictador –Guillermo Alonso Meneses
* Brasil 2014: El Mundial e lo social –Fernando Carrión Mena
As Executive Secretary, Pablo Gentili, explains: “We felt that an organisation such as CLACSO could not ignore, decline to take any position, refuse to debate so many aspects of the greatest sporting spectacle on the planet. We hope we have achieved our aim. You, our readers will judge and help us to evaluate our work.
“We are perfectly well aware that the world has not come to a halt during these four weeks of infernal football. All the great problems of humanity remain. Arrogance and imperial brutality continue to take innocent lives in Gaza and Syria, amidst the indifference of the world at large. Hundreds of Africans have vainly tried to cross the Mediterranean, fleeing from violence and misery. Millions of Latin American men and women have continued to live in extreme poverty, abandoned and neglected. The crimes and impunity of the powerful still undermine human rights and the values which should sustain them. Vulture funds persist with their efforts to destroy the financial systems of our countries. The world hasn’t stopped and it hasn’t changed after these four weeks of football and uncontrolled hysteria. We know this.
“But we also know that critical thinking is an indispensable aid to the struggle for emancipation. We don’t think that this is incompatible with being excited by football, expressing strong emotions and intense suffering in relation to the sport; while at the same time trying to understand the phenomenon and expressing our commitment to the struggles of all those who seek to build a better world.”