Fútbol, Jews, and the Making of Argentina

Ranaan Rein is Sourasky Professor of Latin American and Spanish History at Tel Aviv University, Israel.

"Rein's book is a brilliant illustration of how to approach ethnicity outside conventional historiography [...] by favoring a perspective that takes into account the interplay between minority formation and nation-building . . . His research on Jewish Argentines and sports as a space of acculturation and ethnic differentiation is a welcome contribution tot he cultural and social history of Argentina's so -called 'melting pot', but is also constitutes a methodological template for further inquiries into the development of majority-minority relations in Latin America."—Victor Armony, Canadian Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Studies "Rein's new book is an important contribution to both the study of ethnicity in Latin America and the growing research on sport . . . A fascinating first step in what, hopefully, will become a much larger historiography that touches on ethnicity, sport, and neighborhood/urban identities."—M. L. Nouwen, Choice "The book is path breaking in singular and plural ways, from redefining the approach to Latin American Jewish history to rethinking the nature of life in the barrios of Buenos Aires vis-à-vis popular culture, sports and ethnicity. It is a history that encompasses the Argentine pathway from immigration society to populism and beyond."—Federico Finchelstein, New School for Social Research "This innovative study brings together Rein's commanding knowledge of Jewish immigration with a passion for the history of football. The result is a well-researched and nuanced examination of the football Club Atlético Atlanta and the neighborhood from which it emerged, Villa Crespo. In the end, Rein transcends his focus on this civic association to illuminate the role of ethnicity, national identity, and popular culture in twentieth century Argentina."—Brenda J. Elsey, Hofstra University "[This book] serves as an invitation to cultural and social historians, and to fans of football everywhere, to further explore the significance and representation of Club Atlético Atlanta in terms of a more complex understanding of Jewish integration into Latin America and of a Latin America integrally composed of Jews."— Dalia Wassner, H-Judaic "Rein's book about the Jewish role in Argentinean football provides the reader with a detailed and multifaceted approach to the interrelation between culture, society, immigration, minorities and sports as it focuses on ethnicity and sports in immigrant societies."—Moshe Zimmermann, Studies in Contemporary Jewry