South Africa and the Global Game

Firmly situating South African teams, players, and associations in the international framework in which they have to compete, South Africa and the Global Game: Football, Apartheid, and Beyond presents an interdisciplinary analysis of how and why South Africa underwent a remarkable transformation from a pariah in world sport to the first African host of a World Cup in 2010. Written by an eminent team of scholars, this special issue and book aims to examine the importance of football in South African society, revealing how the black oppression transformed a colonial game into a force for political, cultural and social liberation. It explores how the hosting of the 2010 World Cup aims to enhance the prestige of the post-apartheid nation, to generate economic growth and stimulate Pan-African pride. Among the themes dealt with are race and racism, class and gender dynamics, social identities, mass media and culture, and globalization. This collection of original and insightful essays will appeal to specialists in African Studies, Cultural Studies, and Sport Studies, as well as to non-specialist readers seeking to inform themselves ahead of the 2010 World Cup. This book was published as a special issue of Soccer and Society.

Peter Alegi is an Assistant Professor of History at Michigan State University, USA, where he teaches courses in southern African history, leisure and popular culture, and global sport. Alegi is the author of Laduma! Soccer, Politics, and Society in South Africa (University of KwaZulu-Natal Press, 2004), as well as many journal articles and chapters in scholarly volumes. He is a Book Reviews Editor for Soccer and Society. Chris Bolsmann is Lecturer in Sociology at Aston University, UK. His research focuses on the transformation and marketisation of higher education; football and identity in post-apartheid South Africa; and trade unions and internationalism. He has published in Soccer and Society; Society in Transition; Historical Studies in Industrial Relations; Globalisation, Education and Societies; and the South African Labour Bulletin amongst others.

1. Introduction Peter Alegi and Chris Bolsmann Part 1: Past is Prologue - History of Football in South Africa 2. Football as Code: The Social Diffusion of 'Soccer' in South Africa Lloyd Hill 3. White Football in South Africa: Empire, Apartheid and Change, 1892 - 1977 Chris Bolsmann 4. A Biography of Darius Dhlomo: Transnational Footballer in the Era of Apartheid Peter Alegi 5. Women and Gender in South African Soccer Cynthia Fabrizio Pelak Part 2: Football Culture after Apartheid: Local and Transnational Dynamics 6. "You Must Support Chiefs: Pirates Already Have Two White Fans!" Race and Racial Discourse in South African Football Fandom Marc Fletcher 7. "It Wasn't that I did not Like South African Football": Media, History, and Biography Sean Jacobs 8. Soccer in a Rugby Town: Restructuring Football in Stellenbosch Sylvain Cubizolles 9. Differing Trajectories: Football Development and Patterns of Player Migration in South Africa and Ghana Paul Darby and Eirik Solberg Part 3: The 2010 World Cup: Challenges and Opportunities 10. Football's Tsars: Proprietorship, Corporatism and Politics in the 2010 FIFA World Cup Scarlett Cornelissen 11. Sports as Cultural Diplomacy: The 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa's Foreign Policy Sifiso Mxolisi Ndlovu 12. World Cup 2010: Africa's Turn or the Turn on Africa? Ashwin Desai and Goolam Vahed 13. The 2010 FIFA World Cup: Critical Voices From Below Percy Ngonyama