CEES MA Graduate Thomas Law Receives the Canadian Association of Slavists Student Essay Prize
The Centre for European and Eurasian Studies (CEES) is thrilled to congratulate alum Thomas Law (class of 2025) on winning the 2025 Best Graduate Student Essay Prize by the Canadian Association of Slavists. His paper, “Soccer under state socialism: propaganda protest or non-political?” was submitted to the Student Essay Contest by Professor Lilia Topouzova. Thomas wrote the paper when he was enrolled in Prof. Topouzova’s graduate course HIS1205H ‘The Communist Experience in Central and Eastern Europe.’
We sat down to speak with Thomas about the Essay Prize, his research, the writing process, and what he has been doing since graduating from CEES.
Congratulations! What does this prize mean to you?
I'm incredibly honoured and humbled. Never in a million years did I think I'd win this. It's such an incredible feeling to have not only my work recognized, but to also acknowledge the immense help and support of Professor Lilia Topouzova, and everyone at CEES, throughout my studies.
What is your essay about?
It's about soccer behind the Iron Curtain, under state socialism during the Cold War. It looks at the ways in which the sport was coopted by communist regimes for control and propaganda, and, in contrast, how it provided spaces for outright opposition to these regimes. I also looked at whether soccer could act as an apolitical escape from everyday life and compared this with case studies in Western Europe. I very quickly had to narrow my focus to East Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary rather than looking at the entirety of Central and Eastern Europe. In short, I sought to reimagine the idea of dissidence by positing football as a multifaceted and contested space, one that authorities and everyday individuals could exploit for their own purposes, and indeed choose not to. The crux of this paper was about understanding the political nature of soccer, when those at the heart of it see the game as a popular but apolitical pastime.
What inspired your research?
I've always had a fascination with looking at the world through a sporting lens. I never liked the idea that something that has the power to captivate millions and evoke such strong emotions can often be dismissed as 'unimportant'. Professor Topouzova's class really examined the day-to-day aspects of regular life under state socialism, something I had previously neglected, but which soon captivated me. From there, it was an easy choice to bring these two thoughts together: to look at soccer not only in that specific time and location, but to do so through that (a)political lens.
What is something interesting (or surprising) that you discovered during the process of researching and writing this essay?
I wasn't surprised, per se, but I found it fascinating to see the multiplicity of views on display. It shouldn't be shocking – after all, there were case studies across different countries, across different decades, and involving different types of actors. But that diversity of thought and action made for rich research and writing. What I found most shocking was the personal impact it would have on me, and the way I see soccer. In a way, everyone involved in soccer has to contend with the ugly sides of the game, but whilst the nature of those problems may have changed, their impact is becoming increasingly hard to ignore. Ferenc Puskás said, post-retirement: "then, ideology ruled, now money does. What’s the difference? As long as people like football.” Back then, many fans and players made a conscious effort to ignore the ideological reality of life for the 90 minutes of a soccer game. I find it increasingly hard to do so with the greed involved in modern soccer.
Do you have any tips for CEES students who are currently writing final term essays?
Take pride in your work, for sure. If you're working on a topic that you’re already interested in, it certainly helps when you're mired in research, re-reading, and editing, but having that sense of ownership for a final piece of work can do wonders in motivating you to produce the best possible paper. And also, for the love of God, don't use AI. You run the risk of being caught, the hallucinations it throws up will seriously diminish your work, and it's working to put us humanities graduates out of work (to say nothing of the environmental impact, or the 1 in 5 chance of it wiping out humanity). With your work, however, you really do lose that sense of pride that can only come from producing something yourself. Without that personal stake, you do lose something in the final product.
What have you been doing since graduating from CEES and do you have any future plans?
Funny enough, I'm now working as a research administrative coordinator at the Public History Lab at the Munk School - they can't keep me away! On a personal level, it's been two and a half years since moving to Canada, and I've loved it so far - this really is my home. Friends and family (and proper pubs) notwithstanding, the one thing I really miss about Europe is the soccer culture. I'm always writing about something or other, and in the back of my mind would love to do some long-form writing, maybe even a book project at some point, perhaps on this very topic. Que sera, sera.
