Éder Lopes’s goal in the 2016 European Championship Final won Portugal its first ever major football trophy, and catapulted him to the status of a ‘national hero’. A recent article argues that the celebration of Éder, born in the former Portuguese colony Guinea Bissau, and other racialised players depends on their ability to perform and assimilate ‘Portuguese culture’.
In this episode, Pedro Almeida joins us to discuss the relation between football, race, nation and colonial past.
Pedro has studied press discourses in Portugal, particularly the narratives that emerged during the 2016 European Championship; in addition, the study draws on interviews with various agents including journalists and former professional players. While the success of the national team in 2016 was perceived and presented by some as a symbol of the re-definition of Portuguese national identity to reflect a multiracial and diverse society, in reality it hasn’t weakened the idea of ‘a national ‘we’, Portuguese and implicitly white, as opposed to ‘they’, African and implicitly black. Pedro writes that Portugueseness is still conceived of today as something innately white in the national imagination.
…all this and more in the 33rd episode of the Football and Society podcast.
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Each week, Ash, Chris and Norman explore societal issues through the lens of the beautiful game. From the ethics of gambling sponsorship to what a stadium move means for fans, we’ll be covering it all each week with expert guests from the worlds of sports journalism and sociology.