ABSTRACT
This chapter is structured sequentially in a manner, with the first section on ideologies providing a theoretical basis or framework. The second section on identities is where the bulk of the possession battle is waged; various ethnic, civic and national self-conceptions are teased out historically, from nineteenth-century foundational efforts to establish the game to contemporary reconstitutions of various selfhoods formed in and through the game. The third section on initiatives examines contemporary efforts to transform the way the game is played or perhaps transform the world through playing the game. The chapter provides a fair sampling of the various academic approaches throughout the conference. The Ideologies section begins with Scott Waalkes offering an ambivalent perspective in processes of globalization. It extends the time and place of the ‘Soccer as the Beautiful Game: Football’s Artistry, Identity and Politics’ conference, keeping the ball rolling well beyond the gathering at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York during April 2014.
