Football In Africa: Conflict, Conciliation And Community

Description:
How do particular African societies understand and play football? What is the social history of football inAfrica? How does football relate to African experiences of colonialism and independence, war and migration, nationalism and globalization? How is the cultural vitality of African peoples expressed through football? This groundbreaking collection of articles seks to answer these and many other questions regarding the role of football in Africa. The authors draw heavily on detailed fieldwork in African communities to examine football cultures across all regions of this complex continent. Nigeria, South Africa, Liberia, Kenya, Cameroon and Zimbabwe are among those football nations under analysis. The book should be compulsory reading for social scientists in sport studies and African studies, and will appeal to all those interested in the social background of African football.

Review:
'...this rich history of African football fills a glaring sporting gap.' - Brian Oliver, Observer '...the book provides the best and most enlightening survey of the history and meaning of African football yet.' - David Goldblatt, The Times Literary Supplement '..impressive collection' - The Times 'seminally terrific...a compelling political and cultural read.' - Frank Keating, The Guardian

Table of Contents:
Drama, Fields and Metaphors: An Introduction to Football in Africa; R.Giulianotti & G.Armstrong PART ONE: CONTESTED SELECTIONS Containment and Counter-Attack: A History of Eritrean Football; A.Last Football in Algeria: Between Violence and Politics; Y.Fates 'A Story of Heroes, of Epics': The Rise of Football in Nigeria; W.Boer Between Colonialism, Independence and Globalism: Football in Zimbabwe; R.Giulianotti PART TWO: FOOTBALLING COLOURS Ngoma Reverberations: Swahili Music Culture and the Making of Football Aesthetics in Early Thirteenth Century Zanzibar; L.Fair Football and Apartheid Society: The South African Soccer League, 1960-1966; P.Alegi Football and Ethnicity in Mauritius: (Re)producing Communal Allegiances; T.Edensor & I.Koodoruth Chasing the Ghosts: Narratives of Football and Nation in Morocco; G.Stanton PART THREE: OFF THE BALL MOVEMENTS France in the Cameroonian Football Imagination; B.Vidacs Life, Death and The Biscuit: Football and the Embodiment of Society in Liberia, West Africa; G.Armstrong Playing Against Deprivation: Football and Development in Nairobi, Kenya; H.Hognestad & A.Tollisen PART FOUR: MOVING WITH THE BALL Three Geographies of African Footballer Migration: Patterns, Problems and Postcoloniality; J.Bale The Migration of the Black Panther: An Interview with Eusebio of Mozambique and Portugal; G.Armstrong Extra Time; P.Woodward

Author Biography:
GARY ARMSTRONG is a Lecturer in the Department of Sport Sciences, Brunel University, London. He is the author of Football Hooligans; Knowing the Score and BladeRunners; Lives in Football. He has co-edited (alongside Richard Giulianotti), Entering The Field; New Perspectives in World Football, Football Cultures and Identities and Fear and Loathing in World Football. He is currently researching the role of football in the reconstruction of Liberia and the role that football played in the politics of Malta. RICHARD GIULIANOTTI is Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Aberdeen. He is the author of Football: A Sociology of the Global Game, and the author of numerous articles on football. He is the co-editor of several collections on football.