Post-Modern Times: Identities and Violence in Argentine Football

Abstract

Listen

Translate article

The development of football in Argentina is inseparable from the country’s wider social and political context. Argentine football, from its origins in the late nineteenth century, was organised to reproduce the centralist structure of the country, with a centre (Buenos Aires) that retained hegemony over an extensive but pauperised interior. Only two other cities, Rosario and Cordoba, developed economic and industrial (and ultimately football) strength. The opposition of Interior vs Buenos Aires replaces in Argentina the habitual axes of opposition between different cities or regions in other countries. While that is a historical fact, what is contemporary and significant is how, like the rest of Latin America, Argentina has entered the last decade witnessing a rapid modernisation of its economic structure. This modernisation has been founded upon many years of neo-conservative hegemony, and reflected in the restructuring of the economy to fit the global market. The globalisation of economic and communication systems has produced swingeing changes within the social and cultural organisation of the nation. Traditionally a privileged space for understanding the complexity of Argentine society, football has similarly undergone major transformations that allude to these deeper structural changes without routinely reproducing them. The changes within football indicate deeper tensions that are difficult to resolve. This chapter attempts to map out these developments.