30 Jul
Updated (8/15/11) Brian Phillips over at Grantland delves into FIFA corruption.
Pete Alegi has a nice roundup of the “seedier” side of World Cup hosting: political corruption, human rights abuses, and the widening gap between rich and poor. BTW, have you noticed any follow-up articles on South Africa 2010? Similar articles were very common in the lead up to SA2010 but little has been said about the consequences of the Cup for the nation’s poor since then.
TweetI found a useful site for those of s trying to measure inflation rates in the 1960s in Argentina (not an easy task, mind you). Here is an example for the years 1958 to 1964-years in which Raúl Colombo was president of the Argentine Football Association and Argentina was under (mostly) democratic rule. [...]
TweetMy comic book collection numbered in the hundreds growing up. They were key for English literacy, and helped develop a love for art that stays with me. Comic books are truly an understated medium for cognitive development and literacy. But comic books are not a good economic investment. I don’t know how much money I [...]
TweetDan Cohen tweeted along a neat tool for making your own printer’s mark, from the University of Manchester. It’s a fun tool, but a little limiting by not allowing users to resize objects. Here is my printer’s mark for this blog:
TweetIt’s not every day that a Costa Rican and an American team-up to lead their team to victory in the Premier league. I enjoyed the game Highlights of Clint Dempsey and Bryan Ruiz’s goals.
TweetThe recent deaths of comic book legends Jerry Robinson and Joe Simon have been a bit bittersweet. Part of my own interest in popular culture stems from the role of comic books during my formative years. With parents who spoke Spanish at home, and two older brothers who I probably annoyed to no end, I [...]
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Rwany,
First of all, congrats on your candidacy. I just found out when I decided to go back to reading all of those old blogs I was following last year.
Your post on Brazil got me thinking about my wife’s (she’s from Brazil) usual comment about the way the media presents Brazil. Would you say that there is too much emphasis on corruption and violence? Will people tend to focus on that side of the World Cup because it’s going to be in Brazil?
I’m trying to remember how Argentina is usually portrayed. Am I wrong, or is it portrayed as very “European”? Just wondering.
Keep up the great writing, and I’m curious to find out how your research is going.
Laszlo,
You know, I was thinking about that myself now living in Argentina. Having never been to Brazil, it’s hard for me to make an observation nearly as astute as your wife’s perception. However, reading scholarship on Brazilian history makes me think that it boils down to 3 views of Brazil that have been historically true.
One is the “official” view, what some have labeled as “Brazil”. This is the image to export: Bossa Nova, Bahia, Samba, Rio’s beaches, eco-tourism, etc. As 2014 nears, expect a lot of “Brazil” from FIFA and the national government. It happened in South Africa 2010 (wildlife, savannas, happy music), South Korea 2002, Mexico 1986, and most notoriously in Argentina 1978, when the military junta provided an idyllic image while genocide was taking place. None of this is surprising, just good marketing.
The second view, mostly foisted on us by journalists (and sometimes by activists/scholars), focuses on the ills that are neglected and under-reported. The stories of the favelas, of people left out of the country’s economic boom, of the drug cartels and periodic crimes against tourists. It’s a “doom and gloom” story meant to serve as a juxtaposition to the marketing of “Brazil.”
What I am interested in, and what I linked to in the pieces on South Africa and Brazilian corruption, is a third view: Brasil–with an “s”.
This is about daily life in the country. It’s not idyllic, nor gloomy. Yet, the people at the center of this story are affected by FIFA corruption and policies. This may be the small business vendor who is shut out of the FIFA “zone” around stadiums, and therefore profits very little from the World Cup. Or the small neighborhoods that will never see tourism money in 2014 because visitors will be “protected” from Brasil the same way they were from South Africa. But more importantly, it’s about their lives today, in 2014, and after. Their stories are the ones neglected.
Few people understand the enormous variety of cultures across Brasil, the rapid growth of Protestantism, or the evolving tastes in music and style. Here in Argentina, the view looks far different than what we see in the US. Less idyllic, less gloomy, more real. Sure, there are European influences, but you also see indigenous and African influences as well if you look closely enough. In the end, Buenos Aires is simply an entity of its own: unique.
I hope that scholars and journalists can take time to discover Brasil as 2014 and 2016 approach. One good book I would recommend is Hello, Hello Brazil by Bryan McCann. It’s about radio culture in Brazil in the Vargas era. It’s not about Vargas per se, nor powerful interests (although they’re there), but about people who listened to advertising and enjoyed radio shows. It’s also about why certain musical styles emerged, why they faded, and what took their place. Some of it deals with people in favelas, but also middle class families in the suburbs and country folks picking up programming in the cities.
I like your idea of understanding Brazil with an “s”. That gets beyond the usual ways of looking at that country and keeps you open to the varity of people and cultures that exist there. I’m going to get that book you suggested, too, so I have something to read when I go to Brazil next year. There’s nothing better than reading about a place I’m going to visit.
Off of this topic, I’m going to also check out what you’re doing with digital media and teaching. I’ve decided that I’m going to find a job that fits me better than what I’m doing now, and checking out your work is probably going to give me some inspiration. Any advice for me?