The ethical spectator: Daniel Campos on World Cup fandom

When philosophy professor Daniel Campos decided to attend the World Cup in Brazil, he knew there were complications, but he didn’t expect to care so deeply. In this June 2014 essay in the New Republic, he proposes a plan for ethical fandom.

Read it here: Campos, "Towards an ethic of World Cup fandom”

 

1. Campos describes his ambivalence and inner conflicts on coming to understand what hosting the World Cup has done to the lives of ordinary Brazilians. Still, he says, fully comprehending the consequences of his participation is impossible and doesn’t “get to the heart of the matter.” What, according to Campos, is “the heart of the matter”?
2. How and how well does Campos explain the caring engagement that he advocates? What does he argue is the difference between respect and caring, and why is the former not enough? How persuasive is his argument? How persuasive is his enactment of it? Why?
3. Campos’ essay takes a very personal approach to some grand-scale social, political, and ethical issues. What does his personal account contribute to his principal argument? Would a less personal angle have been more or less effective? Why or why not?
4. If you are following this year’s FIFA World Cup, you are likely to see more press coverage of FIFA’s corruption and Brazil’s social turmoil than coverage of the matches themselves. How important is it to consider the social and political contexts of a major international sporting event? If you had been offered the opportunity to attend a World Cup match in Brazil (and especially if you did, indeed, attend), how would you respond to the strikes and demonstrations? How interested might you be in learning about the controversies, and to what degree would you feel that you, as a visitor, should be involved? Why? Write an essay in which you respond to these questions, using Campos as your They Say.

Comments

[Daniel]

I think that Campos' essay shows a different side of the world cup that we may not have seen otherwise. I love that he cares so much about Brazil, and sees how much work the community does. I agree with him that we should be involved because it is important to be. His personal account helps legitimize his argument, give reason behind his feelings, and makes me want to get involved also.

[Jordan Lee]

Campos gives his opinion about the world cup and what he thinks about it. His Opinion is also more concerned about the people and the police corruption of Brazil during the world cup. Campos gives his reasons on why he is so firm on his beliefs and feeling about the world cup that no a lot of people would do.

[R]

Whenever a struggle between a people and its authorities intercepts the daily life of a previously content person, they face a choice on how to respond: dismiss the plight of the people as somebody else's problem and treat it as an irritating nuisance, or open a caring ear to the injustices they are fighting. Campos says that as a visitor, the ethical way to deal with the situation surrounding the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil is listening empathetically to the people involved. I tend to hold the same belief as Campos. For the truth is that completely ignoring the difficulties of the oppressed is acting as if the world revolves around you. Campos's idea of caring engagement expressed through his personal experience shows that it is possible to enjoy the World Cup and show compassion at the same time.

[Jade]

In this article, Campos talks about the struggles Brazilians go through during the times of the FIFA World Cup. He says how his uncle's dream of going to the World Cup led to his dreams of going and once he got there, it was not what he thought it would be. His main idea of this article was to show how during this time, citizens of Brazil like to have riots and petitions to show the democratic struggle that they are going through right now. Not only that, but Campos talks about how citizens want people to know that Brazil can be a place where they can come not only for FIFA and that they need help trying to better Brazil's democracy. Not only that but his main idea is to show the treatment of the neighboring people who live beside the stadium during world cup. Sometimes it is hard for people to even get into their own neighborhood because of the strict security only being worried about the visiting people at the time. All the people want is fairness and they feel like the best time to try and get it, it during the World Cup. Campos is surely right when talking about the ways citizens go about handling things during the world cup. Because people are not fully aware of what is going on in Brazil, it is good for the people that live there to try and bring awareness at a time when they know that a lot of people will be there. I think it is good for them to do that because there is never a time when a lot of people will be in one area at once. I understand that this is the only way to get their point across and pray that someone will listen to them. By doing this, they are at least trying to bring awareness on the help that they need even if no one will listen.

[Phoebe Kazakos]

According to Campos, the true matter of Brazil is that the people want their government to take responsibility of the lives lost building the stadium, that instead spend all the money on the stadium trying to imprese the world they should have spend it on education, to help improve benefits for workers of different types, how the World Cup has affected their everyday lives and what they have to change to fit the event. And the way Campos tells us about all of this is by explaining that tourist should try and understand what is going on with the country and its society rather than only the World Cup. He explains the difference from acting like you do not see what is going on and stoping and listening to protesters in the street and see what they think and care about it, to understand that you are only there for a short period of time while the people of Brazil will stay there and fight for what is right.
Since he has told us what his profession is, we can tell that he has knowledge about topics that an average person would not care for and that is an advantage to his argument with his own personal experience. If he had done his argument in third person he point would have been heard but would not have the same effect because he is telling us first hand what he see and hears and has learned from asking and talking with locals and observing how they live their lives everyday.
Campos has seen how the world sees Brazil during the World Cup and how the government has done the very best it can do show the world that they are (in a way) a first world country, by building new buildings, shops, arenas and upgrading their police force to insure that tourist have nothing to worry about. Campos sees all of that as a cover to the real problems Brazil is having, and his original reasons for being there change once he is there and sees what is not shown on TV. And by informing us about different people of different age groups and how they feel as they are losing their voice with the government draws in my attention because when a major international sport event occurs the main focus is on the sport with hardly any negative images of the problems that have been occurring for a while.

[Daniel Gatta]

I agree with Daniel on the idea that in this article Campos shows a different side of the World Cup that not many people are aware of. When people think of or watch the World Cup they think of soccer and happy fans from around the globe rooting for their country's national team. What people do not see is what happens behind the scenes; the social and political unrest in many host nations and the economic problems hosting the cup can cause. Some of these host nations spend millions of dollars building stadiums and prepping for the World Cup while thousands of their citizens are homeless and starving. Phoebe Kazakos makes a great point by saying how viewers of the World Cup should look past the soccer and realize how many political and social problems there are. I firmly believe that this is a major issue and that nations across the globe must work together to help these less fortunate nations whose problems are constantly overshadowed by the bight lights of the World Cup.

[Wesley Ellery]

The World Cup is watched by millions worldwide. Unfortunately, the effort to prepare for a World Cup can leave questions on the humane aspect. We need to put in a greater effort to make sure a host of the World Cup is able to provide great working conditions, and that the country can actually afford the task. The issue with Qatar in 2022 is that conditions are far worse than Brazil. Temperatures can rise to over 120 degrees in the summer, and workers are barely paid enough to get by. This issue needs to be addressed by FIFA.

[Max Hardin]

I think R makes a great point when he says "the best solution is listening empathetically to the people involved. Ignoring the difficulties of the oppressed is acting as if the world revolves around you," and his point can be applied to historical references like Civil Rights. Within his article, Daniel Campos discusses the fact that local people had little to no voice in matters that were directly affecting them, much like how African Americans were disregarded and sent to worse schools and treated like scum. Martin Luther King Jr. once said "“Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal," and I feel as if this can be applied here, as people were non-violently (peacefully) protesting what they thought was unjust; working conditions and their communities' destruction from a power they had to patiently battle. Wesley brings attention to future World Cups, and I agree; it is vital to "listen empathetically" to those in Qatar.

[Drew Latour]

The main point Daniel Campos is trying to make in his article "Towards an Ethic of World Cup Fandom" is that as a fan at the World Cup in Brazil, should he support the tourism there amid all of the protests? As he lays out specific instances of protests around Brazil, Campos finds himself in an ethical dilemma as to what he's supposed to do. Campos states that Brazil is not just the venue of the World Cup or just a host to "offer services to demanding football fans," but rather that is is a place where the citizens of Brazil live and work. He concludes by saying that the best a visitor to the country can do is to "engage Brazilian citizens in their hopes and ideals [for democracy]," and to care for them as they offer hospitality for the World Cup.
I agree with Campos on the point that the struggles for democracy and a fair living are/were overlooked by the Brazilian government, especially during the time of the World Cup when the government was only out to please tourists. Although I agree with Campos, he did not clearly spell out what the Brazilian government was doing to the citizens as much as he went over the effects of what the government was doing to the citizens. It would have facilitated feelings of sympathy the Campos was maybe trying to evoke if he had made a list of sorts of what the Brazilian government was or was not doing for the people of Brazil.

[Anokhi Patel]

The FIFA World Cup is an event the entire world looks forward to, whether their team is any good or not. But I believe that it is important to pick a location that will be able to afford the hectics of this event. We, the people watching from home, were not exposed to the many protestors in Brazil in 2014, and the soccer fanatics that went to the see the games in person were too busy to pay much attention to the civilians. It is important that the FIFA people take into account whether or not the citizens of the country in which the cup is being held in are comfortable with the chaos that comes with this event. Campos also spoke about the construction workers that were killed while building the massive soccer stadiums. Saying this, many could say that the FIFA people should provide a safer environment for the hardworking pedestrians. They should also take into consideration the economic state of the location. It is not a secret that Brazil is an impoverished country, and although tourist bring some wealth, the struggles for the citizens of this place, whether they are rich or poor or in school, are very real.

[Kaley Settle]

Daniel Campos in his article "Towards an Ethic of World Cup Fandom" brings foreword the issues with large events, such as the FIFA World Cup, that greatly disrupt countries socially, politically and economically. I think it is very important to consider the stability of a country before any major event is held there. As Campos explained, upon his arrival in Brazil, he witnessed many protests which advocated for better benefits for workers as well as argued for the collection of state funds used for the games. It was obvious to Campos that the country has much internal strife as they "undergo a democratic struggle about the future of their society" and it should be taken very seriously by the FIFA corporation because the hustle and bustle of the world cup is going to have quite an effect on the native population. Construction of the soccer stadiums killed some of the workers and it is important that FIFA steps up and takes more cautious measures to ensure their workers well being. As well as maintaining a safe environment for workers, FIFA and the state of Brazil should be well aware of the financial issues Brazil already faces and should put the state funds toward the betterment of the country before investing in a disruptive and temporary sports venue.

[Cheyenne Acker]

In "Towards an Ethic of World Cup Fandom", Daniel Campos discusses the role of FIFA's corruption on Brazil's social turmoil. In an unstable country, such as Brazil, funds should not be directed towards building "overpriced stadiums". Instead, university students and social activists argue that health and education should be prioritized, reminding onlookers of the worker deaths associated with the building of the stadium through posters reading "FIFA is the terrorist". Amid this social strife, a larger struggle for democracy develops. In order to secure the World Cup games, military efforts were implemented to "enforce peace" and subdue protesters. While this conflict remains only temporary in the lives of tourists and FIFA, it represents a significant factor in the future of Brazilian democracy. Therefore, in true democratic nature, the story of Brazil's struggle should be told and acted upon by the people, not FIFA or a venal government.

[JB]

In "Towards an Ethic of World Cup Fandom", Daniel Campos describes how the protest affected his view of Brazil in it's social turmoil. In Brazil, while funds should not be directed towards building "overpriced stadiums", they were in order to let the world play and watch the beautiful game. The protest was led by university students and social activists portraying banners of workers killed building these stadiums. They also explained how the funding should be put towards more important things such as education. Amid this social strife, democracy falls apart, only ensuring that FIFA is pleased. In order to make the World Cup games safe for tourist, the brasilian military were deployed to make sure protestors would stand down and not be a proble. While this conflict remains only temporary in the lives of tourists this has grown to become even more important to the brasilian people. Brazil had given up it's democratic government to appease the governing body of FIFA.

[Ronald Morales]

I was a fellow spectator of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil that year, and as a matter a fact the prime headlines were the social, political, and even the environmental aspect of the country. Strikes were constantly on the news before a match started and as a tourist you could be quite scared if you saw this happening. I also saw interviews of many famous players complaining about the quality of all the hotels and how sometimes they didn’t even have clean running water. That surprised me a lot because these teams booked the most luxurious hotels for the well being of the players. I think it is very important to take into account the political and social stability of a country before deciding to have it host one of the biggest sporting events in the world. It is important to consider the well being of the players and all of the tourist who are coming from all over the world. You are putting in danger millions of people and just collecting the money they drop in FIFA’s Pocket. If I went to that world cup i feel like personally the match would still be the highlight of my time there. Yes, don’t get me wrong of course I would be scared and i would be upset that all of this was happening and maybe I would not be able to enjoy time out with my family due to fear of being in danger. I would be interested in learning about why exactly the protesting is going on and what the reason behind it would be but i would never join. I think that whatever issues are going on in Brazil needs to stay in Brazil and to be dealt by authorities and the people of Brazil. It is not my job to decide what is politically correct in each country. I don’t think any of the tourist should be involved in any political issues occuring in the country.

[Sergei]

The blog that I read was from the 2014 World Cup, but its problems and controversies are still the same regarding this year's 2022 World Cup. When the World Cup happens we only think of it as a carnival for football fans all over the world that will leave only good memories for us, but in reality we mostly overlook the harsh reality of what happens behind it. When the voting for the next host of the World Cup is determined, people will start looking at the host country under the microscope for any problems or negleges of human rights. In 2022 Qatar was awarded as the host for the World Cup and many people immediately started to acquiesce FIFA for corruption over the idea of giving Qatar the rights to be the host country. Qatar as beautiful as it is, it always had problem with human rights with the way they were treating people as slaves, harsh working conditions combined with harsh weather makes it a living nightmare for the Qatar workers. Another thing that people had trouble with is the rules that were made for fans to follow while they're in Qatar, those rules forbid fans from drinking in public, kissing with their partners and not making noises. Some people might say that you have to respect the rules of the country, but that doesn’t apply here because when you host the words number one sporting event you have to make sure that the fans would leave your country with good memories about the tournament.