I had never really thought about the theory of globalization until I started reading the book How Soccer Explains The World by Franklin Foer. While writing this blog, I am still confused as to the actual meaning of globalization.  This book is about the author’s travels around the world and his encounters with soccer fanatics. He talks about how different each set of fans are for different teams but also how they are the same. Without completely understanding globalization, I will attempt to explain how it is countered by sectarianism.

            One major part of globalization in ancient times was religion; especially Catholicism. A group of Catholics decided that they wanted to create a soccer team in Glasgow, Scotland.  This way, they would get some recognition and be playing a sport they love at the same time.  This team ended up to be very successful and talented, so Scotland decided it needed its own non-religious team.  A group of people then got together and created a team called the Rangers.  They were also very successful and began racking up the wins of games against the Celtics (Catholics).  One fan that Frank, the author, meets up with named Dummy tells him allabout this rivalry. Dummy talks all about how he fought fans of the opposite team, with himself being a Rangers fan. However, he had grown up now with a wife and kids and told Frank that his life as a hard man was over.

            Even though Dummy gave up his life of fighting over sports, he admitted that he would still give up his job and wife for the Rangers. Since he is a Rangers fan, he is probably not religious and therefore takes part in the singing of songs containing slurs about anything having to do with religion. This counters the theory of happy globalization because obviously, everyone does not accept religion.  Religion is sometimes even condemned by those who feel strongly enough against it.  At this time in Scotland, Catholicism was a big influence on many people.  People adopted it as their religion in Scotland as well as many people in surrounding countries.  This example of religion showshow similar beliefs can unite many different people all across a continent.

            A fan of the team Chelsea in England had a different outlook.  He doesn’t drink alcohol at all but still supports his team with pride.  His name is Alan Garrison and he is a writer.  He wrote about how he used to be very violent and fought a lot against fans of other teams.  He stopped this because he has a family that he cares about and wants to be around for.  I think this shows a great level of maturity because he had been there done that with the partying and fighting but finally realized that none of that is worth it.  This counters globalization because Alan is not the typicalhooligan/fan.  He is living proof that fans don’t have to be violent to prove that they are loyal to their team. 

            Overall, I think soccer can be a very good indicator of globalization because it is the dominant sport in so many countries and this provides the basis for relationships between these countries to form.

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