Football, globalisation and local identity in Brazil

Abstract

This paper seeks to reflect on globalisation and local identity in Brazilian football. We present the strength of the local base as the unique feature of the Brazilian example in the adoption of football, in order to be able to discuss just how important this particular aspect was in the shape that football took, and how the "modernizing" forces of globalisation are reshaping it nowadays. Under pressure from market forces we can see a clash between tradition and modernity, between local identity and the trends towards globalisation.
Keywords: globalisation; football; Brazil; local identity