Monday, 23 November 2009

football or philosophy?

So, the question today is to what extent does football, or any other sporting or cultural activity detract from political acivity? Can this not be a symbiotic relationship? This debate I find particularly interesting and prescient given the need to find new and creative ways to engage with layers wider than our immediate circle. 

Answers on a postcard and I may just include any good ones in my dissertation!  Thx comrades.

And if 10 of you buy one of these fab shirts we cud create our very own Trotsky team. Quite ironic given the quote, no! Who would be the first group we would challenge to a thrashing? :-)

Oh, and Mark, make mine a skinny. x
 

EVERY TEAM NEEDS A FOURTH INTERNATIONAL

Every team needs a fourth international, though expect this particular player to pick up plenty of red cards for dissent. The quote is genuine, taken from Trotsky's 1925 Where is Britain Going? His analysis of the consciousness-sapping qualities of football remains a source of debate! 

Philosophy Football's latest T-shirt is available in sizes S-XXL, plus women's skinny rib fit , from http://www.philosophyfootball.com/view_item.php?pid=551

3 comments:

Solomon's Mindfield said...

Such terms as “proletarian literature” and “proletarian culture” are dangerous, because they erroneously compress the Culture of the future into the narrow limits of the present day. They falsify perspectives, they violate proportions, they distort standards and they cultivate the arrogance of small circles which is most dangerous.

Trotsky, Literature and Revolution (1924) Quote for the Day: 23 November 2009

luna17 said...

The Trotsky quote on proletarian culture is superb - one of those examples of him capturing so much perceptive insight into so few words. His comment on football is sadly less astute, but makes a brilliant shirt!

Mark P said...

Your point about the need to reach out beyond the existing left audience via popular culture is well-made.

This is not a retreat from class politics, as some suggest, it should be it's essence.

But it cannot be a one-way process, expect our politics to be changed too by any such process.

Nor can it be half-hearted, it must be founded on a genuine, heartfelt, commitment to a world outside of the left. Speaking personally I am in active in football because I love the game, its not a optional extra for me, I'm there because I'm a fan , and the experience has transformed the what and the how of my politics.

In a small way this is what www.philosophyfootball.com seeks to achieve too . Thanks for the Trotsky shirt plug!