Jeffrey W. Kassing – författare

This is the first book to examine football (soccer) through the lens of diaspora studies. Presenting case studies from across four continents, it considers how diasporic minorities develop a sense of belonging between their national and transnational ethnic communities through an active participation in football. Bringing together a cross-disciplinary group of scholars working in anthropology, communication, cultural studies, history, psychology, politics, sociology and sport, it unearths the connections between culture, identities, politics, nationalism, globalization, and how those manifest in the lived experience of diasporic peoples. Against a background of the continued internationalization of sport and pervasive global migration, it explores key themes in the social sciences including migration, acculturation, and assimilation; sport, identity, fandom, and representation; and nationhood, citizenship, and politics. As the book focuses on diverse ethnoreligious groups dispersed around the world, it covers a wide range of geographic locations, with cases addressing the Bolivian, Ethiopian, Moroccan, Zimbabwean, Croatian, Irish, and Basque diasporas. It is fascinating reading for anybody working in sport studies, diaspora studies, political science, sociology, cultural studies, international history or social history.

This is the first book to examine football (soccer) through the lens of diaspora studies. Presenting case studies from across four continents, it considers how diasporic minorities develop a sense of belonging between their national and transnational ethnic communities through an active participation in football. Bringing together a cross-disciplinary group of scholars working in anthropology, communication, cultural studies, history, psychology, politics, sociology and sport, it unearths the connections between culture, identities, politics, nationalism, globalization, and how those manifest in the lived experience of diasporic peoples. Against a background of the continued internationalization of sport and pervasive global migration, it explores key themes in the social sciences including migration, acculturation, and assimilation; sport, identity, fandom, and representation; and nationhood, citizenship, and politics. As the book focuses on diverse ethnoreligious groups dispersed around the world, it covers a wide range of geographic locations, with cases addressing the Bolivian, Ethiopian, Moroccan, Zimbabwean, Croatian, Irish, and Basque diasporas. It is fascinating reading for anybody working in sport studies, diaspora studies, political science, sociology, cultural studies, international history or social history.

This book captures the historical position and contemporary status of soccer in the United States. Drawing from across twenty-five years of interdisciplinary scholarship, the volume documents the development of soccer along five interrelated trajectories. The first section, Exceptionalities includes work that examines the exceptional orientation of American media and fans to the sport. The Femininities trajectory addresses the success and position of women's soccer in the US. The Challenges section considers the range of factors that have limited growth and constrained fandom, whereas the gateways portion reveals some of the mechanisms that have rendered the sport more appealing to Americans (e.g., video games, popular fictional characters, and national teams). The final area, pockets, profiles the historical, regional, and ethnic locations in which the sport has found footing in the US.This volume is invaluable for students, scholars and practitioners interested in sports studies and American cultural studies, spanning sports sociology, gender studies, media representation, fan culture, immigration and ethnicity, regional studies, and the globalization of sport.The chapters in this book were originally published in Soccer & Society, the first and only academic journal devoted to a single sport, and includes a new Introduction. The collection balances broad considerations alongside specific case studies throughout – thereby presenting readers with a time capsule reflecting the 'states' of play in advance of the 2026 FIFA World Cup that the US will co-host with Mexico and Canada.

Tifo refers to the artistic renderings that supporters at football/soccer matches perform. This can involve large banners, coordinated mosaic displays, and pyrotechnics. Originating in Europe, the tradition has spread across the world and to other sports. Tifos vary in size, content, and execution, but all emerge from the desire supporters have for signaling and displaying their collective community, specific identities, and extensive devotion to their clubs. Fans fashion tifos to communicate publicly about identity, sense of place, past success, politics, and heated rivalries. Their assorted content makes tifos a distinctive form of fan-generated communication. Traditionally, supporters display tifos only momentarily before football/soccer matches. Yet they have become increasingly complex, sophisticated, and competitive—requiring dozens of people to create them, financial investments usually from fans to procure the materials needed to finance them, and on-site, in-stadium coordination to display them. These factors contribute to a unique, complex, and globalized form of fan communication that captures not only the obvious and intended messages of tifos, but also demonstrates the effort and devotion needed to execute them. This book examines the history and evolution of tifos, their social significance for clubs, places, and communities, the identities and associated affiliations they discursively perform, and the explicit and implicit symbolism they contain. Given the demanding practices surrounding the development and execution of tifos, and their overall captivating nature, this book should appeal to a broad audience including students and scholars working in sport as well as fans of it.

Tifo refers to the artistic renderings that supporters at football/soccer matches perform. This can involve large banners, coordinated mosaic displays, and pyrotechnics. Originating in Europe, the tradition has spread across the world and to other sports. Tifos vary in size, content, and execution, but all emerge from the desire supporters have for signaling and displaying their collective community, specific identities, and extensive devotion to their clubs. Fans fashion tifos to communicate publicly about identity, sense of place, past success, politics, and heated rivalries. Their assorted content makes tifos a distinctive form of fan-generated communication. Traditionally, supporters display tifos only momentarily before football/soccer matches. Yet they have become increasingly complex, sophisticated, and competitive—requiring dozens of people to create them, financial investments usually from fans to procure the materials needed to finance them, and on-site, in-stadium coordination to display them. These factors contribute to a unique, complex, and globalized form of fan communication that captures not only the obvious and intended messages of tifos, but also demonstrates the effort and devotion needed to execute them. This book examines the history and evolution of tifos, their social significance for clubs, places, and communities, the identities and associated affiliations they discursively perform, and the explicit and implicit symbolism they contain. Given the demanding practices surrounding the development and execution of tifos, and their overall captivating nature, this book should appeal to a broad audience including students and scholars working in sport as well as fans of it.

Negotiating Workplace Relationships teaches students how to navigate the ethically challenging and professionally risky situations they are likely to encounter in their working lives. Grounded in both classic and contemporary studies, this narrative-based text introduces a theoretical framework and pragmatic communication strategies for mitigating personal risk and optimizing relational and organizational outcomes. Throughout the text, students learn how power differences, normative pressures, performance obligations, and other social, relational, and ethical factors complicate workplace encounters. Each chapter features real-world scenarios that illustrate unique challenges such as proposing innovations, responding to harassment, managing workplace romance, offering criticism, and dealing with difference. Students are provided with current research on each communicative challenge, then explore possible responses using the Risk Negotiation Cycle. Featuring vivid examples that encourage critical thinking and lively discussion on the topic of communication in the workplace, Negotiating Workplace Relationships is well-suited to courses in organizational communication, work relationships, leadership communication, organizational ethics, applied communication, and management.

The themes of nationhood, geography, citizenship, acculturation, identity, globalization, narrative and mythology reverberate throughout this book, especially with regard to how they shape place, identity, and culture.