Soccer, Nationalism, and Border Zones in the US

Sports and nationalism are two forms of imagining and actively constructing the connections that justify and explain our belonging to a community. In fact, sports could be said to be one of the key modern terrains for the... [ view full abstract ]

Sports and nationalism are two forms of imagining and actively constructing the connections that justify and explain our belonging to a community. In fact, sports could be said to be one of the key modern terrains for the habitualization of nationalism. However, as practices involving diverse actors in historically and culturally specific contexts, they are also often occasions for the questioning of hegemonic national narratives and even for the emergence of alternative imaginings of supra or sub-national belonging. Our panel interrogates sports in Latin/o America precisely as a key terrain in which nation is defined and populations are interpellated through emotionally charged practices (state policy, media representations, and sports play itself by professionals, national teams and amateurs) of inclusion and exclusion. The panel explores the complexities of these practices across a range of sports (soccer, cycling, boxing, and surfing) and national spaces (Colombia,Peru, and USA). Finally, it also looks at how factors such as regional histories, migration, and globalization complicate notions of nation engendered through sports.