Overview

This is the first book to focus on innovation as a response to globalization in soccer in the context of the global development of the world’s most popular sport. Concentrating on social innovation and on innovations in governance and organization in soccer’s traditional heartlands and also at its global periphery, the book explores some of the most important contemporary themes in the social scientific study of sport, including fandom, activism, gender, governance, new media, artificial intelligence, greenwashing, and sport-for-development. The book features case studies from around the world, including the United States, Brazil, Türkiye, Finland, England, Spain, Japan, Morocco, Uruguay, and South Africa, and it opens new theoretical perspectives on soccer as a vector of social development and on the intersection of sport and globalization. This is fascinating reading for anyone with an interest in the sociology of sport, sport management, sport development, soccer, political science, or global development.

Full Product Details

Author:   Kirk Bowman (Georgia Institute of Technology, USA) ,  John B. Boyd (Michigan State University, USA)
Publisher:   Taylor & Francis Ltd
Imprint:   Routledge
Weight:   0.630kg
ISBN:  

9781032939032

ISBN 10:   1032939036
Pages:   237
Publication Date:   24 September 2025
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Tertiary & Higher Education
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Not yet available  
This item is yet to be released. You can pre-order this item and we will dispatch it to you upon its release.

Table of Contents

1.Soccer, Globalization, and Innovation: The Beautiful Game in the 21st Century. 2.Innovation and the Beautiful Game. 3.Soccer as Civil Society. 4.A Movement for Dignity: Humiliation, Migration, and Transnational Solidarity in the Moroccan Ultras Scene. 5.Shifting the Game: Soccer Feminist Fandom Activism as a Catalyst for Sporting Innovation in Brazil. 6.When passionate soccer fans participate in a social movement: “Çarşı” in the Gezi movement in Istanbul (2013, Turkey). 7.The StationSoccer Social Innovation: Overcoming U.S. Youth Soccer’s Transportation Barrier. 8.Soccer for Good in Joensuu: Navigating Finland’s New Diversity. 9.Partnerships with Soccer Clubs, Data, and Training Women Analysts: The Case of Pink Codrs Africa and Kaizer Chiefs FC. 10.Hitting the Net: How Women’s Soccer Scored Big Online. 11.Critical Junctures, Path Dependency, and the Rise and Future Challenges of US Women’s Soccer. 12.Who decides? Artificial intelligence and soccer. 13.Innovation in Uruguayan Football. 14.The Causes and Consequences of the Americanization of the Beautiful Game in Europe. 15.Environmental Sustainability, Greenwashing, and Innovative Solutions to Re-duce Carbon Emissions from Team and Fan Travel.

Reviews

Author Information

Kirk Bowman is a professor and Regents’ Entrepreneur in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He is the author of four books and co-produced six feature-length documentary films in Brazil. Kirk has conducted soccer and politics fieldwork in eighteen countries and has a forthcoming book on soccer and global politics. John B. Boyd is a PhD candidate at Michigan State University in cultural anthropology, focusing on North Africa and its diaspora. His research interests include youth and social movements, urban anthropology, the intersection of sport and society, and football and football fandom in North Africa.

Tab Content 6

Author Website:  

Countries Available

All regions