NewsroomStudy at DITResearchIndustry and InnovationLibraryServices and FacilitiesFaculties and Schools
Go
no file no file no file no file no file no file


Max Mauro

Max Mauro

P: +353-1-4027129
E: mmauro@dit.ie
Campus: Aungier Street

Research Topic: Kicking the Ball: Youth, Sport and Cultural Diversity in Ireland

In recent years sport has received much critical attention across disciplinary boundaries as an ‘arena where it all comes together: race, class, gender, nation, capitalism, empire, neo-liberalism, globalization' (Denzin, 2006). In a European context, sport is also seen as a crucial contribution to multicultural dialogue between young people (European Commission Report on Sport and Multiculturalism, 2004). Significantly, the sport practices of young people in the context of intersecting questions of race and class have yet to receive adequate critical attention by visual ethnographers, utilizing the analytical potential of audiovisual media as a source of new knowledge. The aim of this research project is to explore the sport practices of migrant youth in Ireland, focusing on the meaning of sport, namely football, for male teenagers of immigrant origin. Ireland serves as an interesting case study since it has the youngest population among the 27 countries of the European Union and one in ten of its population are born outside the country. By adopting a textual and filmic approach, this practice-based research engages with the social worlds of the members of a youth football team based in west Dublin, a residential location with the highest national percentage of immigrant families. Along with the meaning of sport for youth of different ethnic backgrounds, the core of this study foregrounds processes of identity construction and reconstruction, racial/cultural belonging and new modes of citizenship. A central concern of this doctoral research is how and in what ways participation in sport functions to enhance social inclusion of migrant youth and their families.


Max was born in Switzerland, the son of Italian immigrants, and raised in Italy. A trained journalist and award-winning writer, he has published travel books and a study about the lived experience of migrants. He has lived and worked in Venezuela and Germany, is passionate about football and in recent years has been involved in short film projects.

Selected Publications


2009
‘La bici sopra Berlino' (‘The Bike over Berlin'), Ediciclo, Venezia, Italy - short novel on Berlin, its angels, and the bicycle.

2008
‘Foreigners', International Online Literary Project (www.foreigners.com.br).

2006
Patagonia Controvento (‘Patagonia Against the Wind’) - A Solo Cycling Tour Through Patagonia. Book awarded ‘Albatros’ National Prize for Travel literature, Palestrina, Rome, Italy.

2005
La Mia Casa è Dove Sono Felice (‘My Home is Where I am Happy’) - Life Stories of Emigrants and Immigrants. Book winner of ‘Raccontare l’emigrazione’ (Reporting on Emigration) International Award, Borgotaro, Parma, Italy.

2004
‘A Due Passi’ (A Few Steps from Here) with Bibi Agosto - Short film on Borders and Identities. Awarded the Fiati Cortissimi National Prize, Treviso, Italy.

Selected Conference Papers

2010
‘Is it just a ball? Audiovisual Practice and the Transcultural Worlds of Teenagers Playing Football in Contemporary Ireland'. Youth 2010. Identities, Transitions, Cultures, University of Surrey, UK (forthcoming).

‘Kicking the Ball: Youth, Sport and Cultural Diversity in Ireland'; Postgraduate Workshop on Visual Anthropology, Ascona, Switzerland. Organized by Centro Incontri Umani (CH), University of St Andrews (UK), University of Goettingen (DE), University of Tromsø (NO) (forthcoming).

 

 

 

top ^