I am a passionate soccer fan and my major research is on the socio-cultural significance of soccer in Argentina. I am fascinated by how bonds of solidarity, belonging, and emotion are formed through the fandom of soccer crowds, as well as how soccer fandom is entangled in various socio-political projects. My fieldwork has been based in Buenos Aires, Argentina and has focused on activism by fans of Club Atletico San Lorenzo de Almagro to regain ownership of a stadium property lost during Argentina’s civic-military dictatorship (1976-1983). My research looks at the entanglement of political memory and processes of forming emotional solidarities as a way of more broadly understanding the socio-political significance of popular sport cultures. Entangled in the politics of memory and the human rights violations of the dictatorship, soccer’s significance to urban space, and the weekly performances of crowd fandom, San Lorenzo’s story demonstrates the unexpected ways in which people create moments of political change. My research formed the basis of a short documentary, "The 40 Year Fight Against Football Exile," made by Copa 90.
More recently I have been doing research on the emergence of “feminist football” supporters within Argentinian soccer clubs, and the ways in which this movement is attempting to confront and dismantle patriarchal and misogynist aspects of Argentinian soccer cultures, while also challenging the feminist’s movements exclusion of popular culture.
I believe strongly in the insights gained through an ethnographic approach to research and developing students appreciation and abilities in ethnographic research. My courses often include assignments that encourage students to practice aspects of doing ethnographic research. Given my research background in urban environments in Latin America, my courses often have an emphasis on ethnographic research from Latin America, and themes of political-economy, urban anthropology, and sport. I regularly teach the Introduction to Socio-cultural Anthropology, as well as the Honours Research Project Seminar for students in the BA Honours in Anthropology and BGINS Globalization, Culture and Power stream. I also teach a course on Sport and the Body, where we explore both the embodied experience of being an athlete, as well as broader themes of power, racialization and racism, gender and sexuality, and nationalism in sport around the world.
