Communities in movement: football and basketball in transcultural spaces

Abstract

This is an introduction to the special issue “Communities in Movement: Football and Basketball in Transcultural Spaces”. The articles focus on amateur basketball and football teams and leagues founded by Latin American migrants in the US and Brazil: Oaxacan basketball leagues in Los Angeles explored by Luis Escala Rabadán, Bolivian and Peruvian football leagues in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro investigated by Julia Haß and Stephanie Schütze, as well as Mexican and Latino football teams in New York studied by Guillermo Yrizar Barbosa. These articles explore the meaning of football and basketball in transcultural spaces, asking the following questions: How do migrants gain access to sports spaces in their places of arrival and how are these disputed? What impacts do they have on community building? How are they connected to work experiences and to other forms of social and cultural organization? How are different senses of belonging disputed in these spaces? How are they at the same time linked to processes of exclusion and discrimination?

Keywords:

• Communities in movement
• migrant teams
• football
• basketball
• transcultural spaces

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 Although these specific forms of basketball and football have a more or less recent origin, ball games are universal; for example, they have existed in China since 6000 BC (Guttmann 2004), and in Mesoamerica since 1500 BC

2 Although football is generally much more widespread in Latin America, basketball is more popular in some places, for example, in regions of Mexico (Oaxaca and the Sierra Tarahumara in Chihuahua) and in Puerto Rico.

3 Very well-known ‘Oaxaca Basketball’ teams include the ‘Niños Triquis’ and the ‘Gigantes de la Montaña’.