FUTEBOL E TEORIA SOCIAL NA AMÉRICA LATINA: ENSAIO SOBRE AS CRÍTICAS AO "ESPORTE DO POVO".

This essay aims to present, analyse and problematise the way in which Latin American intellectuals, linked to critical social theories, explain the role and meanings of the football spectacle in capitalist societies. To this end, it has been organised into three parts. In the first part, I analysed the moral condemnation of football, showing that some authors see this sport as an essentially alienated activity and others only condemn its spectacularisation, proposing that it be reformed. In the second part, I analysed the (supposed) ideological functions of football, problematising the arguments that this sport necessarily legitimizes capitalism, conceals its contradictions, unifies the oppressed and the pressured, fragments the working class and reifies social relations. In the third part, I discuss the (supposed) authoritarian personality of the football fan, focusing on the political-ideological implications of this idea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]