Migrant athletes and the transformation of physical capital. Spatial and temporal dynamics in West African footballers' approaches to post-careers.

Autor/inn/en	Ungruhe, Christian; Agergaard, Sine
Titel	Migrant athletes and the transformation of physical capital. Spatial and temporal dynamics in West African footballers' approaches to post-careers. Gefälligkeitsübersetzung: Sportler mit Migrationshintergrund und der Wandel des physischen Kapitals. Räumliche und zeitliche Dynamik in den Konzepten westafrikanischer Fußballer für die Zeit nach der Karriere.
Quelle	In: European journal for sport and society, 18 (2021) 4, S. 347-364 PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei Link als defekt meldenVerfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	online; gedruckt; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1613-8171; 2380-5919
DOI	10.1080/16138171.2020.1863706
Schlagwörter	Bildung; Verhalten; Soziale Beziehung; Soziale Mobilität; Sprache; Einbürgerung; Kultursoziologie; Migration; Fußball; Sportsoziologie; Globalisierung; Kapitalmarkt; Arbeit; Arbeitsmarkt; Karriere; Sportler; Europa; Westafrika
Abstract	For many young people from the Global South football labour migration to Europe fuels hopes of social mobility. However, the long-term value of an international career is uncertain. Despite the success of a few migrant role models, professional careers in Europe often go along with a number of social and economic challenges for migrants that hinder sufficient preparations for post-career life courses. In this article, we focus on retiring male West African footballers in Scandinavia and their challenges to transform accumulated physical capital into other forms of social, economic and cultural capital, such as financial resources, social relations, educational assets, language skills and rights in form of long-term residence permits or citizenship in Europe. By foregrounding the temporal and spatial dimensions of the accumulation and transformation of capital, we depict the relational character of its various forms (social, cultural and economic capital) and their changing value in the different localities of players' origins and destinations and at different points in time. Hereby, we show how processes of capital transformation are ambivalent experiences which, nevertheless, point to problematic structures in the global football business that disadvantage migrant players and their attempts to reproduce social mobility after career ending. (Autor).
Erfasst von	Bundesinstitut für Sportwissenschaft, Bonn
Update	2022/2