CULT 320: Globalization and Culture

Kara Heitz, 11/04/2014 & 11/06/2014

Video clips:

• Contra A Copa: The Other Side of Brazil’s World Cup (Vice News, 06-14-14) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTW1ePYoV7Q

• “A Neo-Liberal Trojan Horse”: Dave Zirin on Brazil’s Mass Protests Mass Protests Against World Cup Displacement (Democracy Now!, 06/19/14) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11BrWqOzAQo

When watching videos, think about:

• Why were some people in Brazil protesting the World Cup? Who are they? What are their criticisms and demands?

• What was the Brazilian government’s response to these protests?

• What was happening in the favelas prior to the World Cup, and why?

• What was the Brazilian government spending money on in preparation for the World Cup, and why?

• Who benefitted from hosting the World Cup in Brazil?

Group Discussion Questions:Draw on both Zirin (intro, chs.1-4) and the video clips when answering these questions.

• What are some examples of police militarization in Brazil in preparation for the World Cup? And how does this fit into the arguments from the Graham reading “Ubiquitous Borders”?

• Why do you think Zirin ended his book title with the phrase “the fight for democracy”? What are some examples from the video clips that connect to the idea of “the fight for democracy”?

• What kinds of media sources are the video clips from? Why do you think we didn’t hear much about the criticisms and protests against the Brazilian World Cup in the mainstream U.S. media?

• How could have the events surrounding the World Cup in Brazil played out differently? Are there alternate ways that security concerns could have been addressed without police militarization, expanded civilian surveillance, and targeting favelas? Could the Brazilian government have addressed social concerns (such as education, housing and health care) and still hosted the World Cup?

For Thursday:• Read Zirin, Chs. 5-7 & Conclusions, and think about:

– Who/what are FIFA and the IOC? Why do they have so much power?– Why do governments want to host sports mega-events like the World

Cup and Olympics? What do they get out of it?– What is Zirin’s main argument about sports mega-events as “neo-

liberal Trojan horse” and the “sports shock doctrine”?– What was the impact of the World Cup on the favelas in Brazil. How

does these connect to Harvey’s idea about “accumulation by dispossession”?

• Do your own research to find out:– What happened during and after the World Cup? Did protests stop or

continue? Were any of the protesters demands met? Why or why not?– What are some of the controversies surrounding the 2022 World Cup

in Qatar? How are these similar/different to the controversies surrounding the 2014 Brazilian World Cup?