scholarly journals The Ambiguities of Football, Politics, Culture, and Social Transformation in Latin America

1997 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 15-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Bar-On
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Social Change ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Social Transformation ◽  
Professional Football ◽  
World Cup ◽  
Football Clubs ◽  
Loss Of Mass ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Secular Religion

In this article, I attempt to highlight the relationships between football (soccer), politics, culture, and social change in Latin American societies. The essential argument of the paper is that football in Latin America has tended to reinforce nationalistic, authoritarian, class-based, and gender-specific notions of identity and culture. The few efforts of Latin American professional football clubs, individual players, and fans to resist these oppressive tendencies and ‘positively’ influence the wider society with public positions on pressing social and political concerns have been issue-oriented, short-term, and generally unsystematic in their assessment of the larger societal ills. In Europe, however, there has been a stronger politicization of football directed towards social change by both professional football clubs and supporters. This European tendency, like its Latin American counterparts, has also failed to tackle wider systemic and structural issues in capitalist European societies. On both continents, the ‘ludic’ notion of games has been undermined by the era of football professionalism, its excessive materialism, and a corresponding ‘win-at-all-costs’ philosophy. In the future, the world's most popular game will continue to be utilized as a political tool of mass manipulation and social control: a kind of mass secular pagan religion. As a footnote not mentioned in the essay, the 1998 World Cup in France, a worldwide event with 32 countries and an estimated 2.5 billion fans watching the matches in the stadiums and on television, will be used by the international French Evangelical Alliance called ‘Sport et Foi Mondial 98’ (‘Sport and Faith World Cup 98’) to bring the Gospel to the greatest number of people in the world: Chaplaincy work among the athletes, a Bible-Expo at a strategic location, evangelical street concerts, evangelical messages and banners in the stadiums, etc. In this instance, the new pagan and secular religion of football clashes with the traditional Christian Church - itself crippled by a loss of mass supporters and the rise of alternative secular lords. In both cases, football unwittingly acts as an agent of mass indoctrination rather than challenging established dogmas, or serving as a vehicle for deeper, systemic social change.

An Introduction to Gender and Representation in Latin America

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leslie A. Schwindt-Bayer
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Gender Inequality ◽  
Political Representation ◽  
Latin American Politics ◽  
Gender And Politics ◽  
Women's Representation ◽  
Political Crises ◽  
Women’S Representation ◽  
And Gender

In this introductory chapter of Gender and Representation in Latin America, Leslie A. Schwindt-Bayer argues that gender inequality in political representation in Latin America is rooted in institutions and the democratic challenges and political crises facing Latin American countries. She situates the book in two important literatures—one on Latin American politics and democratic institutions, the other on gender and politics—and then explains how the book will explore the ways that institutions and democratic challenges and political crises moderate women’s representation and gender inequality. She introduces the book’s framework of analyzing the causes and consequences of women’s representation, overviews the organization of the volume, and summarizes the main arguments of the chapters.

Embodying the Web, recoding gender: How feminists are shaping progressive politics in Latin America

First Monday ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luisa Cruz Lobato ◽  
Cristiana Gonzalez
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Digital Activism ◽  
Women's Bodies ◽  
Progressive Politics ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Internet Politics ◽  
Digital Politics ◽  
And Gender ◽  
The Many

This work takes the ambiguity of engaging politically in a Web interwoven with power and gender asymmetries as a starting point to emphasize the heterogeneities and multiplicities of digital politics. We engage with the idea that technology intervenes on women’s’ bodies to analyze how digital activism is deeply connected to corporeality (Daniels, 2009), looking at the Brazilian #EleNão campaign on Facebook to emphasize how the embodiment of feminist struggles in commercial platforms unveils deeply embodied misogynistic dispositions in social media, and to latin-american feminist infrastructures as challenging such dispositions. We argue that transgressing gender norms involves both engaging with social networks and creating alternative forms of coding women’s bodies, and that, beyond the dichotomy of enchantment/disenchantment with contemporary Internet politics, it might be useful to simply stay with the trouble, embrace and recognize the complexities of the many possible Web activisms experienced in Latin America.

Toward a New Agenda for the Study of Religion in the Americas

1999 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuel A. Vásquez
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Social Change ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Religious Practice ◽  
Democratic Politics ◽  
Scholarly Work ◽  
Global Context ◽  
Micro Level ◽  
Definition Of

Recent scholarly work on Latin American religion reflects the pluralism and fragmentation of both religion and civil society. What effect will religious practice at the local, “micro” level have on institutions and structures at the “macro” level-namely, the process of democratization? A deeper, simultaneously more foundational and more encompassing definition of democratic politics might be involved. In an increasingly global context, the study of religion and social change in Latin America and among U.S. Latinos needs to take a comparative, truly interamerican approach.

scholarly journals Sponsorship sales is not only a sport, but an institutional business as well: evidence from two professional football clubs in Latin-America.

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 82
Author(s):  
José Francisco Navarro Picado
Keyword(s):  
Latin American ◽  
Role Model ◽  
Costa Rican ◽  
Professional Football ◽  
Learning Behaviors ◽  
Football Clubs ◽  
Narrative Methodology ◽  
Marketing Tool ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

The purpose of this paper is to identify the impact of institutionalization, legitimacy, learning behaviors, and other organizational characteristics on the efforts made by sport clubs signing sponsorship contracts. An exploratory comparison of two professional football clubs, playing in the First Division, of Costa Rica and Chile was performed. Using a narrative methodology, the Costa Rican team was analyzed through observation during a two-year collaboration period, and the Chilean team was analyzed through in-depth interviews and an analysis of the historical literature. The analysis revealed that organizational behaviors impact the clubs’ amount of sponsorship contracts and multi-season contracts. It also revealed that institutionalization and legitimacy work as a first latter in the relationship, and that by themselves it should be considered a marketing tool. Additionally, it was observed that both learning behaviors and resource seeking strategies contribute to successfully sign sponsorship contracts, but a baseline level of legitimacy and institutionalization should exist. Drawing on Institutional Theory, Ecology, and Organizational Learning a clear role model was evidenced within the ecosystem of two professional football clubs, each on a different Latin American country. These behaviors, which up to our knowledge has never being analyzed before, yielded and sustained legitimacy, while showing a direct effect on sponsorship single-season and multi-season contracts.

scholarly journals COVID-19 Clinical Profile in Latin American Migrants Living in Spain: Does the Geographical Origin Matter?

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (22) ◽  
pp. 5213
Author(s):  
Abiu Sempere ◽  
Fernando Salvador ◽  
Arnau Monforte ◽  
Júlia Sampol ◽  
Juan Espinosa-Pereiro ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Geographical Origin ◽  
Vital Signs ◽  
Hospitalized Patients ◽  
University Hospital ◽  
Retrospective Case ◽  
Age And Gender ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Control Study

The aim of this study was to describe and compare the clinical characteristics of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 pneumonia according to their geographical origin. This is a retrospective case-control study of hospitalized patients with confirmed COVID-19 pneumonia treated at Vall d’Hebron University Hospital (Barcelona) during the first wave of the pandemic. Cases were defined as patients born in Latin America and controls were randomly selected among Spanish patients matched by age and gender. Demographic and clinical variables were collected, including comorbidities, symptoms, vital signs and analytical parameters, intensive care unit admission and outcome at 28 days after admission. Overall, 1080 hospitalized patients were registered: 774 (71.6%) from Spain, 142 (13.1%) from Latin America and the rest from other countries. Patients from Latin America were considered as cases and 558 Spanish patients were randomly selected as controls. Latin American patients had a higher proportion of anosmia, rhinorrhea and odynophagia, as well as higher mean levels of platelets and lower mean levels of ferritin than Spanish patients. No differences were found in oxygen requirement and mortality at 28 days after admission, but there was a higher proportion of ICU admissions (28.2% vs. 20.2%, p = 0.0310). An increased proportion of ICU admissions were found in patients from Latin America compared with native Spanish patients when adjusted by age and gender, with no significant differences in in-hospital mortality.

scholarly journals La crítica como proyecto intelectual. Hilvanes continuistas del pensamiento social latinoamericano

2018 ◽  
pp. 27
Author(s):  
Verónica Giordano
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Social Transformation ◽  
Hard Core ◽  
Historical Sociology ◽  
American Sociology ◽  
1960S And 1970S ◽  
America Latina ◽  
The Right

La década del noventa significó un grave retroceso para la tradición de pen­samiento crítico en América Latina. El colonialismo intelectual degradó esa valiosa cualidad que había distinguido a nuestras ciencias sociales en los años sesenta y setenta: pensar críticamente desde América Latina y para América Latina. La interdisciplinariedad y la historicidad fueron reemplazadas por una reclusión en el núcleo duro de saberes específicos, los cuales prescindie­ron de toda referencia temporal en nombre de la objetividad. Concomitante­mente, se multiplicaron las citas de autoridad de pensadores foráneos que, en general, desconocían los problemas específicos de nuestra región. En años recientes la crítica, como característica indispensable para una ciencia propia, se había revalorizado de la mano de proyectos políticos que afirmaban la soberanía nacional, en consonancia con la autonomía intelectual. Pero el giro a la derecha que se está produciendo en el mundo y en la región en la actual coyuntura está provocando un grave embate a la capacidad crítica. Este ar­tículo propone pensar la sociología crítica latinoamericana como sociología histórica desde la perspectiva de la hibridación de disciplinas, para luego trazar una genealogía de pensamiento crítico que se perfila como proyecto intelectual de transformación social. Palabras clave: sociología latinoamericana, sociología histórica, pensamiento latinoamericano, pensamiento crítico. The critical as an intellectual project. A continued thread of Latin American social thinkingAbstract The decade of 1990’s represented a sharp setback for the critical thinking tradition in Latin America. Intellectual colonialism undermined that valua­ble quality that had distinguished our social sciences in the 1960s and 1970s: to think critically from Latin America and for Latin America. Inter discipli­nes and historicity were replaced by a reclusion in the hard core of specific knowledge, which managed without temporal references in the name of objectivity. Likewise, authority quotations were multiplied by foreign thinkers, who, in general, did not know the specific problems of our region. In recent years, criticism, as an essential characteristic for a science of its own, had been revalued by political projects affirming national sovereignty, in line with intellectual autonomy. But the shift to the right occurring in the world and in the region in the current conjuncture is generating a serious conflict with the critical capacity. This article proposes to think of the critical Latin American sociology as historical sociology from the perspective of hybridi­zation of disciplines, in order to trace a genealogy of critical thinking that emerges as an intellectual project for social transformation. ­Keywords: Latin American sociology, historical sociology, Latin American thinking, critical thinking.A crítica como projeto intelectual. Hilvanes conti­nuistas do pensamento social latino-americano ResumoA década do 90 representou um grave revés para a tradição do pensamento crítico na América Latina. O colonialismo intelectual degradou essa quali­dade valiosa que distinguiu nossas ciências sociais nos anos sessenta e se­tenta: pensar criticamente desde América Latina e para América Latina. A interdisciplinaridade e a historicidade foram substituídas por uma reclusão no núcleo duro do conhecimento específico, os quais dispensaram de toda referência temporal em nome da objetividade. Concomitantemente, multipli­caram-se as citações de autoria de pensadores estrangeiros, o que, em geral, desconheciam os problemas específicos da nossa região. Nos últimos anos, a crítica, como característica indispensável para uma ciência própria, foi reva­lorizada da mão de projetos políticos que afirmavam a soberania nacional, de acordo com a autonomia intelectual. Mas o giro para a direita que está ocorrendo no mundo e na região na atual conjuntura está provocando um grave conflito com a capacidade crítica. Este artigo propõe pensar a sociolo­gia latino-americana crítica como sociologia histórica desde a perspectiva da hibridização de disciplinas, a fim de traçar uma genealogia de pensamento crítico que emerge como projeto intelectual de transformação social. Palavras-chave: sociologia latino-americana, sociologia histórica, pensamen­to latino-americano, pensamento crítico.

Zoos in Latin America

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Regina Horta Duarte
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Social History ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Animal Rights ◽  
Social Transformation ◽  
Animal Protection ◽  
Global Connections ◽  
History Of ◽  
High Standards ◽  
The 19Th Century

Modern zoos emerged as mass entertainment, spaces of public leisure and of culture. In the past, they served as monuments and expressions of the degree of “civilization” and progress of a city and its respective country. In Latin America, zoos date from the last quarter of the 19th century. The history of Latin American zoos is a political, cultural, and social history. The conditions of their creation and operation over the decades have conferred important specificities to these institutions. Since their inception, zoos in Latin America have reflected nationalistic aspirations, civilizational projects, and social transformation. Over the decades, the history of many zoos has blended with natural history in Latin America, as many zoo founders were important scientists. The development of new sensitivities toward animals also follows the history of zoos in Latin America from the beginning, because the first animal protection societies appeared at the same time. Today, zoos face vigorous claims from animal rights activists calling for their closure. In view of so many challenges, these institutions are reinventing themselves with an increased focus on conservation and environmental education, joining international zoological societies with high standards of quality. Among several of these societies, the Latin American Association of Zoological Parks and Aquariums (ALPZA) stands out. Founded in 1990, ALPZA organizes, reshapes, and integrates Latin American zoos, establishing global connections. Various actors play a role in the defense and contestation of zoos, such as politicians, scientists, conservationists, animal protection societies, anti-zoo activists, visitors, administrators, officials, and, of course, thousands of wild animals from all over the world who have lived in Latin American cities for decades.

Latin American Modernities

2021 ◽  
pp. 23-44
Author(s):  
Luis Roniger
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Social Change ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Public Debate ◽  
Representative Democracy ◽  
Multiple Models ◽  
Internal Colonialism ◽  
Public Spheres ◽  
World Development

Modernity has been associated with a series of trends that have altered many societies worldwide, including those in Latin America. Chapter 2 analyzes Latin America and its path to global insertion and modernity. The chapter also addresses the images attributed to this multistate region. Latin American societies patterned their political institutions and public spheres after models that they conceived as the epitome of advanced global progress and modernity. They incorporated modern notions of citizenship, representative democracy, civic associations, elections, public debate and public spheres, justice, and equality before the law. Yet these multiple models were hybrid in nature, resulting from their international insertion and the format of internal colonialism and biases toward the centers of world development. Many of the promises of modernity were unfulfilled, generating new political demands, social change, and transnational spillover from one society to the others.

Public Opinion Toward LGBT People and Rights in Latin America and the Caribbean

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Enrique Chaux ◽  
Manuela León ◽  
Lina Cuellar ◽  
Juliana Martínez
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Attitudes Toward Homosexuality ◽  
Positive Attitudes ◽  
Multiple Variables ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
Lgbt People ◽  
And Gender

Important changes toward more acceptance of homosexuality seem to be occurring in many countries around the world. However, large differences exist between individuals, societal groups, countries, and regions in attitudes toward homosexuality. Countries in Latin America and the Caribbean (LatAmC) are not an exception in either of these trends. More positive attitudes toward homosexuality in LatAmC countries and significant legal and political changes in favor of LBGT rights have been occurring in the region since the third wave of democratization in the 1980s. Nonetheless, there are important limitations to these advancements: they are highly uneven; they are fragile and likely to become targets of politically motivated public outrage; enforcement is irregular and often faces hostile resistance from the civil servants appointed to enact and uphold them; and LGBT individuals continue to face high levels of violence, making the region one of the deadliest for sexual and gender minorities, particularly trans women. Analyses from two large surveys, conducted periodically in several LatAmC countries, which include questions about homophobic attitudes (the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study, or ICCS, and the Latin American Public Opinion Project, or LAPOP) show a clear historical pattern of increased acceptance toward homosexuality in most countries. They also reveal large differences between countries with high (e.g., Uruguay) or low (e.g., Haiti) levels of acceptance of homosexuality. Multiple variables are associated with these differences. In almost all countries, women and more educated, less religious, and more politically active participants show more positive attitudes toward homosexuality than men and less educated, more religious (especially evangelical) and less politically involved participants. The analysis of attitudes toward homosexuality in LatAmC shows that (a) change in attitudes at a large scale is possible and is occurring relatively fast in LatAmC; (b) some countries are greatly lagging behind in these changes, especially in the Caribbean; and (c) policies and programs are urgently needed in the region, not only to facilitate changes in those countries where homophobic attitudes are still very common, but also to consolidate changes that have already been occurring.

Gender and Representation in Latin America

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Gender Equality ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Gender Inequality ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Political Representation ◽  
Women's Representation ◽  
Political Crises ◽  
Women’S Representation ◽  
And Gender

In the past thirty years, women’s representation and gender equality has developed unevenly in Latin America. Some countries have experienced large increases in gender equality in political offices, whereas others have not, and even within countries, some political arenas have become more gender equal whereas others continue to exude intense gender inequality. These patterns are inconsistent with explanations of social and cultural improvements in gender equality leading to improved gender equality in political office. Gender and Representation in Latin America argues instead that gender inequality in political representation in Latin America is rooted in institutions and the democratic challenges and political crises facing Latin American countries and that these challenges matter for the number of women and men elected to office, what they do once there, how much power they gain access to, and how their presence and actions influence democracy and society more broadly. The book draws upon the expertise of top scholars of women, gender, and political institutions in Latin America to analyze the institutional and contextual causes and consequences of women’s representation in Latin America. It does this in part I with chapters that analyze gender and political representation regionwide in each of five different “arenas of representation”—the presidency, cabinets, national legislatures, political parties, and subnational governments. In part II, it provides chapters that analyze gender and representation in each of seven different countries—Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Uruguay, Mexico, Brazil, and Colombia. The authors bring novel insights and impressive new data to their analyses, helping to make this one of the most comprehensive books on gender and political representation in Latin America today.

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