About this Event
Dr Jorge Knijnik was born and grew up in Brazil. He watched the legendary football player Pelé play for Santos in São Paulo as a child and played himself as a central defender for Yuracan FC. He earned a PhD is social psychology at the University of São Paulo. Jorge migrated to Australia in 2009 with his young family when he was appointed to an academic position at Western Sydney University. He is currently an Associate Professor in the School of Education and has research links with the Institute for Culture and Society at WSU. Before that, Jorge had attended the 2007 Sporting Traditions in Canberra when he impressed delegates with his spirited rendition of ‘The Girl from Ipanema’.
The idea to write ‘Tales of South American Football’ emerged when Jorge was approached by a Scottish film producer to undertake research for a documentary on the famous Argentinian club Boca Juniors FC. This research alerted Jorge to the struggle between traditional football (the old supporters, who represented the passion) and modern football (the new management representing neoliberal forces). In this, and a number of other books, Jorge has raised a number of central questions. To what extent has football initiated change in South America since its introduction? How has this game of the colonisers been appropriated and transformed to suit different South American cultures? Does modern football in South America remain a revolutionary tool?
Tales of South American Football: Passion, Revolution and Glory is available now through Fairplay Publishing.
https://www.fairplaypublishing.com.au/products/tales-of-south-american-football-passion-revolution-and-glory
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Macquarie Room, State Library of New South Wales, 1 Shakespeare Place, Sydney, Australia
AUD 0.00
