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Professor Andrei Markovits Interview


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Rednation Interviews Professor Andrei Markovits

Offside - Soccer & American Exceptionalism was published in 2001 by Princeton University Press and quickly became a classic sports book and a must read for soccer fans. Rednation Online recently had the opportunity to interview (podcast above) one of the authors, Professor Andrei Markovits of the University of Michigan, and discuss how the perception and standing of soccer has changed in North America since his book was published. Professor Markovits discussed a wide array of topics including the current state of soccer in North America, Major League Soccer, U.S. College Soccer, the U.S. Men's and Women's National Soccer Teams, the perception of soccer among African-American athletes and the power of the Internet and Satellite Television in the development of soccer culture in North America. He also elaborated further on the ideas presented in Offside and provided some of his thoughts on the upcoming 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Part 1 of 2:

http://www.rednationonline.ca/book_review_offside_soccer_and_american_exceptionalism_aug_25_09_review.shtml

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quote:Originally posted by Ed

Why is this spam on our national team site? I don't mind you promoting yourself when there is Cdn content but this is bullsh1t.

What about Canada you may ask? As the title of the book suggests, this is mainly an examination of the history of American sports, but it does contain interesting material on Canada nonetheless. In many instances, the authors discuss how closely entwined the cultures of Canada and the United States were and, in this sense, the book could have easily been titled Offiside: Soccer and North American Exceptionalism.

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Being insular or not is not the point. The interview has sweet FA to do with our national soccer team and does not belong in this sub-forum.

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Guest Jeffery S.

American exceptionalism is a subject that has frequently involved studying Canada, which is why it is relevant to the forum. Indeed studies of American exceptionalism have received considerable interest amongst Canadian academics and theoretical nationalists precisely due to Canada's interest in asserting cultural and political difference.

A classic example is the work of sociologist Seymour Martin Lipset, who was a pioneer in using Canada as his comparative example in developing his ideas, with numerous publications from the 50s to the 90s. See his American Exceptionalism: A Double Edged Sword. Lipset died a few years ago.

Markovits is a follower of Lipset.

Another person who has written on the subject is a certain Canadian historian by the name of Michael Ignatieff, also in the shadow of Lipset.

Addressing American exceptionalism through soccer is very relevant to the Canadian game, as we are constantly debating whether we should be raising our game and awareness of it on the back of US development (how we improve in baseball), or have an independent model not reliant on the US, but on our immigrant culture or roots in Europe, that would allow us to attain quality in the sport without having to be a US satellite (how we are superior to the US in rugby, for example).

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