Fan protest and activism: football from below in South-Eastern Europe

Abstract

This conceptual introduction seeks to frame and provide a context for the following special issue on "Football from below in SouthEastern Europe". The special issue focus on fan activism and protest aims to understand, theorize and interpret the efforts of football fans both visible as (sub-)political actors in public space and/or as collectives engaged in experiments with new forms of club ownership and direct/participatory democracy. This introduction first details various features of the SouthEastern European context, before exploring how the texts relate to each other in terms of fan, activist and academic positionalities. Following this, one dimension to the concept of protest 'from below'-namely that of a strict 'people/politics' (narod/politika) opposition-is explained and critiqued. Finally, thematic gaps within the special issue are identified and possible areas for future research are discussed.

The role of dark commemorative and sport events in peaceful coexistence in the Western Balkans

“…Dark events research has not previously considered non-commemorative events. In many states, sport events are politicized occasions, involving associations between teams and political parties, or the use of sport events as platforms for political or nationalist messages (Bairner, 2008;Hodges & Brentin, 2018). Sport events also have a social function and form part of narratives about identity and belonging, mediated through the collective memory of significant matches and occasions (Healey, 1991;King, 2016), as well as the symbolism of specific teams, venues and individuals (Bairner, 2008;Ramshaw & Gammon, 2005).…”

“…Sport event research in transition economies remains sparse (Hodges & Brentin, 2018), but the relationship between sport and the dissolution of Yugoslavia has been the topic of numerous studies, with a focus on the emergence of ethnic nationalisms in the 1990s ( -Dordevi c, 2019;Lali c & Biti, 2008;Mills, 2012). In the Western Balkans, sport associations continue to be heavily politicized (Karadzoski & Siljanoska, 2011) and many sport events are notable for their hooligan violence involving ethno-national displays (Mills, 2012;Misic, 2012;Vejnovi c, 2014).…”

From the Concept of the Communist ‘New Man’ to Nationalist Hooliganism: Research Perspectives on Sport in Socialist Yugoslavia

“…The field suffers from significant male dominance, which has been compounded in the Southeast European region (and beyond) by strong histories of patriarchal relations, including in academia. 57 This male dominance is unfortunately also mirrored in this special issue. Despite our significant efforts, a balanced gender perspective of Yugoslav sport history remains largely missing.…”

‘Best run club in the world': Manchester City fans and the legitimation of sportswashing?

“…3 This strong sense of what might be termed ‘spiritual ownership’ of the club has frequently been the source of conflict between fans and the official owners of their club, when these owners are perceived as acting in conflict with the traditions and best interests of the institution (Numerato, 2015; Turner, 2017). Such conflict is by no means inevitable however; notably Hodges and Brentin have cautioned against the tendency ‘to reify activist positionalities as consistently “against” the state, system or certain oppressive practices in a given historical moment’ (2018: 333), citing examples of activist fan groups aligning with club or state authorities.…”