Episode 39: The World Cup is Here!!!

We’re back in the Grandstand, and there’s no better time to kick off season 4 than alongside the opening game of the grandest of all spectating spectacles - the Fifa World Cup!!! Considering the history and potential future of nation state divisions, we discuss the relevance of the World Cup in a corporate saturated, neoliberal, globalized time. Beyond being a tournament that determines which group of guys play the best futbol, is the World Cup simply just an experience in nationalist expression? In a time when adherence to a national identity is becoming perceived as antiquated, we talk about the type of “carnival nationalism” that the World Cup provides to give people a sense of place and belonging in our global village.