African Fans of European Football

This book examines the increasing influence of European football in African societies, considering the processes and significance of being a fan and what this means for the wider globalisation of popular culture. Focussing on fan cultures in Kenya and Zimbabwe, the book argues that instead of manifestations of neo-colonialism, African fandoms of European football are practised in ways that resonate with and help reconstruct and perform the socio-cultural substance of the African communities in question. European football is therefore instrumentalised to help define the identities of the members of the fandom communities and articulate their experience of their reality in their immediate circumstances. This book reflects how the global and local can coalesce in cultural trends such as football fandom. It will interest sports, leisure, popular culture, and social anthropology researchers in Africa and beyond.

Manase Kudzai Chiweshe is an award-winning researcher and Senior Lecturer in the Department of Community and Social Development at the University of Zimbabwe and a Research Associate in the Department of Sociology at Rhodes University, South Africa. Dr. Chiweshe's research interests include the sociology of everyday life in African spaces, focusing on football, gender, social identity, and livelihoods. Solomon Waliaula holds a PhD in Literature from Moi University, Kenya and the University of Mainz, Germany and an M.A. in Literature from Moi University, Kenya. A DAAD Scholar and Alexander Von Humboldt alumnus, He is an Associate Professor in Literary and Cultural Studies at Maasai Mara University in Kenya, a Research Associate at the Department of African Literature at the University of Watersrand, South Africa and a Visiting Fellow at the Department of Anthropology and African Studies, University of Mainz. His research interests are in popular culture and cultural studies, focusing on electronic media audiences. His current project is on cinema and narration in East Africa and has been generously funded by the Fritz Thyssen Foundation.

1: Transnational soccer fan identities and cultures in Africa: An Introduction to Kenya and Zimbabwe 2: Thirty years of the English Premier League in Africa: Transnational fandoms, glocal engagements and everyday entanglements 3: Local Patterns of European Football Reception and Status Identification in Eldoret, Kenya 4: European Football Fandom: Nightlife and Patterns of Entertainment on Nairobi's Ngong Road and Langata Road 5: Football Commentary and Celebrity Fandom in Kenya 6: Fans and Cash Transactions in Slum Area: Case of English Football in Mathare Valley Area of Nairobi, Kenya 7: Transnational soccer fan identities and cultures in Harare, Zimbabwe 8: Chelsea Fandom in Zimbabwe: Localizing the Global 9: Ronaldo vs Messi: Glocal explorations of European Champions League rivalries in Zimbabwe 10: The agony of waiting for the big kick-off: Understanding the significance of the English Premier League fandom in Murombedzi, Zimbabwe 11: Women who watch and support English football in Zimbabwe: A transnational analysis of female fandoms 12: Concluding Remarks: A Comparative Analysis of Soccer Fandom in Kenya and Zimbabwe