‘Wildlife’: Ecstatic practices of hardcore football and music fans during Czech and Slovak post-socialism

Abstract

This study aims to begin to fill the relative gap in research into ecstatic practices in subcultural scenes. To this end, it focuses on two more hardcore groups of football supporters (ultras and hooligans) and two extreme music scenes (black metal and crust punk). Its research methodology relies mainly on participant observation. It considers the ecstatic states of hardcore football supporters and extreme music fans with an emphasis on key contexts, practices and meanings. The study proposes to apply a model of Dionysiac ritual to interpret all these practices and discusses them in relation to the transgression of social norms and commodification in the context of late capitalism.