Uroš Kovač
Biographic Data
| ID | 109507 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Uroš Kovač |
| GIVEN NAMES | Uroš |
| FAMILY NAME | Kovač |
| SIGNATURE | KOVAČ U |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Groningen |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-5230-3084 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 14 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 82 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 14 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2016 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
Vitamins’, shortcuts, and athletic citizenship in Ethiopia and Cameroon: Considering sporting ethics beyond biomedicine
This article argues that the current way of thinking about ethics in sport in primarily biomedical terms, and in particular in terms of the presence of particular pharmaceutical substances, fails to account for broader notions of sporting ethics and fairness in the Global South. Ethnographic material from Ethiopia and Cameroon on attitudes towards doping, ‘spiritual doping’, and age tampering demonstrates that athletes themselves are far more con…
The promise of empowerment: Football migration brokerage between west Africa and Europe
Since the 1990s, west African young men have increasingly aspired to migrate through football, i.e. to play football as a career and a strategy to migrate abroad. Key figures in their migration projects are intermediaries – agents, coaches, and club owners who seek to facilitate and control their mobility in the global market of football players. This article examines mediation of football-related migrations from west Africa to Europe in order to…
Suspension as Politics: A Stadium and its Ruins in Northwest Kenya
From mega-projects to small-scale repairs, many construction projects in Kenya are characterised by delays and false starts. One such case is the renovation of the Kamariny stadium, where since the 1960s world-class long-distance runners have prepared for international races. Part of the government's Vision 2030 development agenda, the renovation promised to turn old athletics tracks into an imposing modern stadium. However, the construction was …
A leap of faith: Football and religion among aspiring migrants in Cameroon
For young men in Cameroon, football has long been a paradigm of sociality through competitive spirit. In recent decades, however, the stakes of competitive football have been raised: the sport has also emerged as a strategy for young men to migrate abroad and earn a living. On and off the football fields, young men seek to grab limited opportunities to sign contracts with clubs abroad, but few succeed. However, the aspiring athletes rarely see th…
Of Masks and Masculinities in Africa
Contemporary forms of precarity, migration, connectivity, and sociality have transformed what it means to be a man in many African communities. Responding with agency and creativity to various incentives and constraints, Africans have adapted practices pertaining to labour, marriage, and sexuality to the exigencies of modern life amid the impacts of European colonialism, rapid urban growth, economic hardship, and political conflict. Drawing upon …
Masculinity, Morality, and the State in Northern Kenya: The Case of Baringo County's Il Chamus
Since the early 2000s, armed attacks and inter-ethnic violence have increased in parts of northern Kenya's Baringo County. This article examines how the Maa-speaking Il Chamus men respond to the growing insecurity as they draw on long-standing notions of morality and on the Kenyan state. In contrast to tropes of (agro)pastoralist northern Kenya being plagued by inter-ethnic animosity, lawlessness, and absence of governance, Il Chamus men situate …
A place for training, not for competition: Negotiations of competition and agency among long-distance runners in Kenya
Kenyan long-distance runners have for decades famously dominated international athletic competitions. Most of the aspiring runners live and train in the highlands of northwest Kenya, in Elgeyo Marakwet County, where they have access to competitive peer groups of budding athletes and an elaborate infrastructure of camps, coaches, and managers. The most promising and successful ones travel abroad to take part in international races, only to quickly…
From ruins and rubble: Promised and suspended futures in Kenya (and beyond)
In the first quarter of the twenty-first century, much future-making in Kenya is taking place in ruins of unfinished promising projects, failed capitalist enterprises, and decades of colonial and postcolonial exclusion and marginalization. When discussing future-making in Kenya specifically and Africa more generally, especially in the context of vision-driven developmentalist narratives that rely on visions of linear progress and growth, analysts…
The Precarity of Masculinity: Football, Pentecostalism, and Transnational Aspirations in Cameroon
Since the 1990s, an increasing number of young men in Cameroon have aspired to play football as a career and a strategy to migrate abroad. Migration through the sport promises fulfillment of masculine dreams of sports stardom, as well as opportunities to earn a living that have been hollowed out by the country’s long economic stalemate. The aspiring footballers are increasingly turning to Pentecostal Christianity, which allows them to challenge c…
The Precarity of Masculinity: Football, Pentecostalism, and Transnational Aspirations in Cameroon
Since the 1990s, an increasing number of young men in Cameroon have aspired to play football as a career and a strategy to migrate abroad. Migration through the sport promises fulfillment of masculine dreams of sports stardom, as well as opportunities to earn a living that have been hollowed out by the country's long economic stalemate. The aspiring footballers are increasingly turning to Pentecostal Christianity, which allows them to challenge c…
Becoming Useful and Humble: Masculinity, Morality, and Association Football in Cameroon
In the post-structural adjustment Southwest Region of Cameroon, young men are finding it increasingly difficult to achieve social adulthood and are turning to migration as a solution. During the past two decades, the transnational market of association football players has expanded and for young Cameroonian men football has emerged as one of the most desirable ways to migrate. Many young men are inspired by African footballers in elite internatio…
On politics and precarity in academia
The terror of the neoliberal markets and the terror of politics both threaten academic freedom - sometimes subtly, sometimes more openly. In this Forum, we ask our contributors to reflect on the entanglements between economy and politics and how they contribute to the ongoing precaritisation in academia, how they shape individual researchers' biographies and how they influence academic research. But more importantly, beyond analysis, this Forum a…
Rethinking Masculinity in the Neoliberal Order: Cameroonian Footballers, Fijian Rugby Players, and Senegalese Wrestlers
In the Global South since the 1980s, when economic downturns under pressure from the forces of neoliberalism eroded social relations, sport and athletes' bodies have become major loci where masculinity is constituted and debated. Sport masculinity now fills a vacuum left by the evacuation of traditional forms of masculinity, which are no longer available to the new generations of men. For them, the possibility of employment in the sport industrie…
Soccer, Kinship and Migration Dreams in Cameroon
For young men in Cameroon, international soccer dreams and family relations are closely connected
Rethinking Masculinity in the Neoliberal Order: Cameroonian Footballers, Fijian Rugby Players, and Senegalese Wrestlers
In the Global South since the 1980s, when economic downturns under pressure from the forces of neoliberalism eroded social relations, sport and athletes' bodies have become major loci where masculinity is constituted and debated. Sport masculinity now fills a vacuum left by the evacuation of traditional forms of masculinity, which are no longer available to the new generations of men. For them, the possibility of employment in the sport industrie…
On politics and precarity in academia
The terror of the neoliberal markets and the terror of politics both threaten academic freedom - sometimes subtly, sometimes more openly. In this Forum, we ask our contributors to reflect on the entanglements between economy and politics and how they contribute to the ongoing precaritisation in academia, how they shape individual researchers' biographies and how they influence academic research. But more importantly, beyond analysis, this Forum a…
From ruins and rubble: Promised and suspended futures in Kenya (and beyond)
In the first quarter of the twenty-first century, much future-making in Kenya is taking place in ruins of unfinished promising projects, failed capitalist enterprises, and decades of colonial and postcolonial exclusion and marginalization. When discussing future-making in Kenya specifically and Africa more generally, especially in the context of vision-driven developmentalist narratives that rely on visions of linear progress and growth, analysts…
Becoming Useful and Humble: Masculinity, Morality, and Association Football in Cameroon
In the post-structural adjustment Southwest Region of Cameroon, young men are finding it increasingly difficult to achieve social adulthood and are turning to migration as a solution. During the past two decades, the transnational market of association football players has expanded and for young Cameroonian men football has emerged as one of the most desirable ways to migrate. Many young men are inspired by African footballers in elite internatio…
The Precarity of Masculinity: Football, Pentecostalism, and Transnational Aspirations in Cameroon
Since the 1990s, an increasing number of young men in Cameroon have aspired to play football as a career and a strategy to migrate abroad. Migration through the sport promises fulfillment of masculine dreams of sports stardom, as well as opportunities to earn a living that have been hollowed out by the country's long economic stalemate. The aspiring footballers are increasingly turning to Pentecostal Christianity, which allows them to challenge c…
Suspension as Politics: A Stadium and its Ruins in Northwest Kenya
From mega-projects to small-scale repairs, many construction projects in Kenya are characterised by delays and false starts. One such case is the renovation of the Kamariny stadium, where since the 1960s world-class long-distance runners have prepared for international races. Part of the government's Vision 2030 development agenda, the renovation promised to turn old athletics tracks into an imposing modern stadium. However, the construction was …
A place for training, not for competition: Negotiations of competition and agency among long-distance runners in Kenya
Kenyan long-distance runners have for decades famously dominated international athletic competitions. Most of the aspiring runners live and train in the highlands of northwest Kenya, in Elgeyo Marakwet County, where they have access to competitive peer groups of budding athletes and an elaborate infrastructure of camps, coaches, and managers. The most promising and successful ones travel abroad to take part in international races, only to quickly…
The Precarity of Masculinity: Football, Pentecostalism, and Transnational Aspirations in Cameroon
Since the 1990s, an increasing number of young men in Cameroon have aspired to play football as a career and a strategy to migrate abroad. Migration through the sport promises fulfillment of masculine dreams of sports stardom, as well as opportunities to earn a living that have been hollowed out by the country’s long economic stalemate. The aspiring footballers are increasingly turning to Pentecostal Christianity, which allows them to challenge c…
The promise of empowerment: Football migration brokerage between west Africa and Europe
Since the 1990s, west African young men have increasingly aspired to migrate through football, i.e. to play football as a career and a strategy to migrate abroad. Key figures in their migration projects are intermediaries – agents, coaches, and club owners who seek to facilitate and control their mobility in the global market of football players. This article examines mediation of football-related migrations from west Africa to Europe in order to…
Masculinity, Morality, and the State in Northern Kenya: The Case of Baringo County's Il Chamus
Since the early 2000s, armed attacks and inter-ethnic violence have increased in parts of northern Kenya's Baringo County. This article examines how the Maa-speaking Il Chamus men respond to the growing insecurity as they draw on long-standing notions of morality and on the Kenyan state. In contrast to tropes of (agro)pastoralist northern Kenya being plagued by inter-ethnic animosity, lawlessness, and absence of governance, Il Chamus men situate …
Soccer, Kinship and Migration Dreams in Cameroon
For young men in Cameroon, international soccer dreams and family relations are closely connected
Rethinking Masculinity in the Neoliberal Order: Cameroonian Footballers, Fijian Rugby Players, and Senegalese Wrestlers
In the Global South since the 1980s, when economic downturns under pressure from the forces of neoliberalism eroded social relations, sport and athletes' bodies have become major loci where masculinity is constituted and debated. Sport masculinity now fills a vacuum left by the evacuation of traditional forms of masculinity, which are no longer available to the new generations of men. For them, the possibility of employment in the sport industrie…
On politics and precarity in academia
The terror of the neoliberal markets and the terror of politics both threaten academic freedom - sometimes subtly, sometimes more openly. In this Forum, we ask our contributors to reflect on the entanglements between economy and politics and how they contribute to the ongoing precaritisation in academia, how they shape individual researchers' biographies and how they influence academic research. But more importantly, beyond analysis, this Forum a…
Becoming Useful and Humble: Masculinity, Morality, and Association Football in Cameroon
In the post-structural adjustment Southwest Region of Cameroon, young men are finding it increasingly difficult to achieve social adulthood and are turning to migration as a solution. During the past two decades, the transnational market of association football players has expanded and for young Cameroonian men football has emerged as one of the most desirable ways to migrate. Many young men are inspired by African footballers in elite internatio…
The Precarity of Masculinity: Football, Pentecostalism, and Transnational Aspirations in Cameroon
Since the 1990s, an increasing number of young men in Cameroon have aspired to play football as a career and a strategy to migrate abroad. Migration through the sport promises fulfillment of masculine dreams of sports stardom, as well as opportunities to earn a living that have been hollowed out by the country’s long economic stalemate. The aspiring footballers are increasingly turning to Pentecostal Christianity, which allows them to challenge c…
The Precarity of Masculinity: Football, Pentecostalism, and Transnational Aspirations in Cameroon
Since the 1990s, an increasing number of young men in Cameroon have aspired to play football as a career and a strategy to migrate abroad. Migration through the sport promises fulfillment of masculine dreams of sports stardom, as well as opportunities to earn a living that have been hollowed out by the country's long economic stalemate. The aspiring footballers are increasingly turning to Pentecostal Christianity, which allows them to challenge c…
Of Masks and Masculinities in Africa
Contemporary forms of precarity, migration, connectivity, and sociality have transformed what it means to be a man in many African communities. Responding with agency and creativity to various incentives and constraints, Africans have adapted practices pertaining to labour, marriage, and sexuality to the exigencies of modern life amid the impacts of European colonialism, rapid urban growth, economic hardship, and political conflict. Drawing upon …
Masculinity, Morality, and the State in Northern Kenya: The Case of Baringo County's Il Chamus
Since the early 2000s, armed attacks and inter-ethnic violence have increased in parts of northern Kenya's Baringo County. This article examines how the Maa-speaking Il Chamus men respond to the growing insecurity as they draw on long-standing notions of morality and on the Kenyan state. In contrast to tropes of (agro)pastoralist northern Kenya being plagued by inter-ethnic animosity, lawlessness, and absence of governance, Il Chamus men situate …
A place for training, not for competition: Negotiations of competition and agency among long-distance runners in Kenya
Kenyan long-distance runners have for decades famously dominated international athletic competitions. Most of the aspiring runners live and train in the highlands of northwest Kenya, in Elgeyo Marakwet County, where they have access to competitive peer groups of budding athletes and an elaborate infrastructure of camps, coaches, and managers. The most promising and successful ones travel abroad to take part in international races, only to quickly…
From ruins and rubble: Promised and suspended futures in Kenya (and beyond)
In the first quarter of the twenty-first century, much future-making in Kenya is taking place in ruins of unfinished promising projects, failed capitalist enterprises, and decades of colonial and postcolonial exclusion and marginalization. When discussing future-making in Kenya specifically and Africa more generally, especially in the context of vision-driven developmentalist narratives that rely on visions of linear progress and growth, analysts…
A leap of faith: Football and religion among aspiring migrants in Cameroon
For young men in Cameroon, football has long been a paradigm of sociality through competitive spirit. In recent decades, however, the stakes of competitive football have been raised: the sport has also emerged as a strategy for young men to migrate abroad and earn a living. On and off the football fields, young men seek to grab limited opportunities to sign contracts with clubs abroad, but few succeed. However, the aspiring athletes rarely see th…
The promise of empowerment: Football migration brokerage between west Africa and Europe
Since the 1990s, west African young men have increasingly aspired to migrate through football, i.e. to play football as a career and a strategy to migrate abroad. Key figures in their migration projects are intermediaries – agents, coaches, and club owners who seek to facilitate and control their mobility in the global market of football players. This article examines mediation of football-related migrations from west Africa to Europe in order to…
Suspension as Politics: A Stadium and its Ruins in Northwest Kenya
From mega-projects to small-scale repairs, many construction projects in Kenya are characterised by delays and false starts. One such case is the renovation of the Kamariny stadium, where since the 1960s world-class long-distance runners have prepared for international races. Part of the government's Vision 2030 development agenda, the renovation promised to turn old athletics tracks into an imposing modern stadium. However, the construction was …
Vitamins’, shortcuts, and athletic citizenship in Ethiopia and Cameroon: Considering sporting ethics beyond biomedicine
This article argues that the current way of thinking about ethics in sport in primarily biomedical terms, and in particular in terms of the presence of particular pharmaceutical substances, fails to account for broader notions of sporting ethics and fairness in the Global South. Ethnographic material from Ethiopia and Cameroon on attitudes towards doping, ‘spiritual doping’, and age tampering demonstrates that athletes themselves are far more con…
Political science (12 works) · Sociology (12 works) · Gender Studies (8 works) · Gender Studies (8 works) · Law (8 works) · Law (7 works) · Politics (6 works) · Sport and Mega-Event Impacts (6 works) · Sports, Gender, and Society (6 works) · Football (5 works)