The Precarity of Masculinity: Football, Pentecostalism, and Transnational Aspirations in Cameroon

By: Uroš Kovač

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Synopsis: Since the 1990s, an increasing number of young men in Cameroon have aspired to play football as a career and a strategy to migrate abroad. Migration through the sport promises fulfillment of masculine dreams of sports stardom, as well as opportunities to earn a living that have been hollowed out by the country’s long economic stalemate. The aspiring footballers are increasingly turning to Pentecostal Christianity, which allows them to challenge common tropes of young men as stubborn and promiscuous, while also offering a moral and bodily regime that promises success despite the odds. Yet the transnational sports market is tough and unpredictable: it demands disciplined young bodies and introduces new forms of uncertainty. This book unpacks young Cameroonians' football dreams, Pentecostal faith, obligations to provide, and desires to migrate to highlight the precarity of masculinity in structurally adjusted Africa and neoliberal capitalism.

Book Quality:: Publisher Quality
Book Size:: 220 Pages
ISBN-13:: 9781805394419
Related ISBNs:: 9781789209273, 9781805393306
Publisher:: Berghahn Books, Incorporated
Date of Addition:: 05/13/24
Copyrighted By:: Uroš Kovač
Adult content:: No
Language:: English
Has Image Descriptions:: No
Categories:: Nonfiction, Sports, Religion and Spirituality, Social Studies, Sociology
Submitted By:: Bookshare Staff
Usage Restrictions:: This is a copyrighted book.