Gaming the World: A Critical Research Review Essay

Introduction

In this critical research review essay, I critically review the book Gaming the World:
How Sports Are Shaping Global Politics and Culture, co-authored by Andrei Markovits and
Lars Rensmann. The review is based on a critical reading of the book. In the course of the
review, the views of the authors are compared to those of another author who wrote a similar
work on the same subject. That work is Franklin Foer’s book How Soccer Explains the
World: An Unlikely Theory of Globalization.

Introducing the Authors of Gaming the World

Andrei Markovits is presently Professor of Comparative Politics and German Studies
in the Political Science Department, University of Michigan (University of Michigan) .
Besides co-authoring Gaming the World, Markovits has done considerable work comparing
North American and European sports cultures. On the other hand, Lars Rensmann is
presently Professor of European Politics and Society and Chair of the University of
Groningen’s Department of European Languages and Cultures in the Netherlands
(Rensmann) .
In terms of their backgrounds, Markovits is an American scholar who has taught not
only in America but also around the world. For example, when the project culminating in
Gaming the World started in June 2006, Markovits had just assumed a position as professor

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of soccer at the University of Dortmund in Germany. On his part, Rensmann is a German
scholar born of a father who was one of a sports journalist father and who, like Markovits,
has travelled and taught around the world. For instance, when their book project started,
Rensmann had just commenced his position at the University of Michigan, co-sponsored by
the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). Both authors were born and grew up in
the second half of the 20 th century, though some twenty or so years apart.
Except for their shared passion for sports, there is little in the authors’ educational and
professional backgrounds that qualifies them to write on the subject of the book; both are
political scientists by training and profession. That said, the fact that Markovits has worked
extensively on comparative sports cultures might qualify him as an authority on the subject.
Meanwhile, the fact that the authors are scholars and sports enthusiasts who live in a period
they call the second or post-industrialization globalization might qualify them to write on the
subject. This is so because the second globalization, a period starting roughly in the 1970s,
has reshaped sports cultures profoundly and created fodder for the scholarly mind (Markovits
and Rensmann 10).
The fact that the authors’ main qualification for the subject is their passion for sports
may create biases that could undermine the validity of the authors’ development of the theme
of their book. For example, in the book’s preface, the authors disclose that being colleagues
at the University of Michigan allowed them plenty of opportunities to attend and watch
football, hockey games and basketball, among other sports, together.

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The Authors’ Hypothesis Examined

The authors’ lack of sports backgrounds notwithstanding, they formulate a plausible
hypothesis which they attempt to substantiate throughout the book. Their hypothesis is that
even though globalization and the accompanying cosmopolitanism have had profound effects
on sports, local and national “sports cultures” and traditions persist. In their words:
“Many of the distinctive cultural narratives and special patterns that first shaped
sports cultures as we know them in the late nineteenth century – in the wake of
globalization’s first wave – now continue unabated, perhaps even augmented, in a
global arena. Yet, we argue that even as the national and the local continue to be
resilient forces, the substantial changes befalling sports through the processes of
second globalization – and the cosmopolitan changes accompanying it – also
transcend national and local affiliations” (Markovits and Rensmann 2).
Globalization’s most obvious effect on sports is the globalizing of sports and sports
interests. The globalization of sports refers to the process by which a sport originates in one
part of the world before gradually spreading to other parts to eventually become global
(Markovits and Rensmann 10). For instance, while the U.S. has been the origin and mainstay
of baseball for a long time, in recent years, the sport has increasingly found its way into
Australia, South Africa, South Korea, Russia, China, the Netherlands and Italy. With regard
to the globalization of sports interests, it is common today for a sport that is played in one
country to be followed by millions of fans from around the world. For example, millions
around the world follow the English Premier League very keenly. Another direct effect of
globalization on sports is that sporting events, sports teams and spectators are becoming
increasingly cosmopolitan, thanks to the increased ease of international travel and migration.

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Instances of Evidence Supporting the Authors’ Hypothesis
As one way of supporting their hypothesis, the authors provide several instances of
evidence, that is, examples of countries that have either played an important role in the
globalization of sports or are renowned for specific sports even though, because of the effects
of globalization, these countries have embraced new sports in recent years. Indeed, these
examples explain, support and clarify the authors’ hypothesis. Four of the examples are
discussed here: Australia, China, Czechoslovakia and Britain. In Australia, one can detect
four dominant sports, but the prominence of each varies from one region to another
(Markovits and Rensmann 20). Thus, while Rugby League is very popular in the Australian
Capital Territory, Queensland and New South Wales, it is hardly followed in the Northern
Territory, Tasmania, Western Australia, South Australia and Victoria. In these latter states,
Australian Rules Football is the dominant sport. Cricket and Rugby Union have truly national
followings, although the popularity of the latter is much stronger in the states that follow the
Rugby League. Among the states beholden to Australian Rules Football, Western Australia is
an exception with respect to Rugby Union, mainly due to the presence of large numbers of
British and South African immigrants, the main supporters of the Rugby Union.
China represents an interesting instance of evidence because it supplies the most
dramatic example of the second globalization of basketball (Markovits and Rensmann 74).
Basketball had its origins in China more than a century ago. However, gradually, the sport
came to be dominated by the U.S., so much so that during the anti-Western Cultural
Revolution, the sport was frowned upon. As a result, basketball ceded much of its dominance
to soccer. However, since the early 2000s when Yao Ming, a Chinese national, was recruited
into America’s National Basketball Association, basketball has been making a comeback.
The result is that now soccer and basketball are competing for China’s top sport.

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No country beats Britain in its contributions to modern sports. Britain’s most
important contribution to modern sports was that, during the first wave of globalization
(roughly from the second half of the 1800s to the onset of the First World War), it
transformed its diverse and highly varied local games into the professional team sports we
know today (Markovits and Rensmann 17). Britain was able to accomplish the feat by
organizing, rationalizing and institutionalizing these sports. Taking modern soccer as an
example, the sport had its origins in Britain in the 19 th century. Prior to that, since pre-
medieval times, “folk football” had been played in English villages and towns, guided by
local customs and with minimal of rules. Then from the 1850s onward, under the influences
of industrialization and urbanization and with the founding of the Football Association (FA)
in 1863, soccer was increasingly modernized and professionalized, even as it spread across
the world.
Finally, in the U.S., North America to a larger extent, the Big Four sports dominate
football (otherwise known as soccer in Britain and Europe), basketball, baseball and hockey.
All four sports underwent a “modernization” process, mostly between 1870 and 1930, on
their way to becoming the dominant sports in the region (Markovits and Rensmann 183). In
the beginning, games were played mostly by children and youth, and their main purposes
were adult recreation, participation and camaraderie. Gradually, however, the ethos of
playing for fun lost ground to organized competitions, with winning as the main goal. This
transformation happened in men’s team sports at all levels, including interscholastic and
intercollegiate. Meanwhile, over time and with the exception of football, the Big Four have
become truly global sports played and followed all over the world.

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Personal View on Authors’ Central Claims

I do not have any objections to the authors’ central claims. Rather, I am in agreement
with them that even as sports become global and cosmopolitan, there is a tendency for
regional, national or even local differences and cultural norms to persist. This view is also
shared by Franklin Foer (2005) in his book How Soccer Explains the World: An Unlikely
Theory of Globalization. Taking modern football or soccer as an example, it has been shown
that the sport originated in Britain in the 19 th century before spreading to different parts of the
world. Even so, regional traditions can be discerned around the world. Thus, in much of
Europe, club football reflects the unique cultural and political complexities of the continent.
In Britain, club football has traditionally been linked to the industrial working class,
especially in cities like Newcastle, Manchester, Liverpool, and Glasgow. In France, many
clubs avail their facilities to the local community and the clubs are jointly owned and
managed by local governments and private investors, reflecting the nation’s corporatist
politics.
There is no conflict between the information presented, and the conclusions arrived at
by the authors of the two books: Gaming the World and How Soccer Explains the World.
Both are in agreement that even though globalization and the attendant cosmopolitanism have
profound effects on sports, most sports exhibit the ability and a tendency to resist foreign
influences and maintain their distinct traditions.
Conclusion

As a college scholar, the impact of Gaming the World has had on me is that the book
has expanded my appreciation of the influence of such forces as industrialization,
urbanization, globalization and cosmopolitanism on sports. My reason for this impact is that
prior to reading the book, I understood that certain sports have international, even global,

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appeals and followings. However, I did not understand how this reality came about.
Specifically, with regard to football, the book has influenced my idea of the sport by
exposing me to the fact that football is not the same everywhere. First, the sport is referred to
by different names in different regions of the world (Markovits and Rensmann 205).
Secondly, different rules of the game apply to different parts of the world. Third, even in
regions where football is referred to by the same name and governed by the same rules, there
are cultural differences.

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Works Cited

Foer, Franklin. How Soccer Explains the World: An Unlikely Theory of Globalization. New
York: Harper-Collins Publishers, 2005.
Markovits, Andrei S. and Lars Rensmann. Gaming the World: How Sports are Shaping
Global Politics and Culture. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2010.
Rensmann, Lars. About. n.d. <http://larsrensmann.com/>.
University of Michigan. Andrei S. Markovits. n.d.
<https://lsa.umich.edu/polisci/people/faculty/andymark.html>.