Full Description
This book explores the tradition of left wing political thinking in the culture of fans of professional football in Europe. It sets out to chronicle and celebrate the fraternal, communal and radical tradition of football - seen to best effect in demands for democratic fan ownership and control of clubs, in fan campaigns against racist and fascist mobilisation of football supporters, and in a firm commitment to anti-corporatism. Drawing on the rich and varied traditions of fan cultures across Europe, the book examines how football, as a cultural form, carries with it the possibility of promoting the voices of the disenfranchised and the marginalised, and so the basis for nurturing solidarity against oppression, alienation and exploitation current in modern capitalist society.
This book was published as a special issue of Soccer and Society.
Contents
1. Introduction: Reflections on the Context of 'Left Wing' Fan Cultures 2. A Contextual Analysis of Europe's Ultra Football Supporters Movement 3. Bosnia, the Bridge, and the Ball 4. The Politics and Culture of FC St. Pauli: From leftism, through anti-establishment, to commercialisation 5. Political ideology and activism in football fan culture in Spain: a view from the far left 6. Struggle for Grassroots Involvement in Football Club Governance: Experiences of a Supporter-Activist 7. La Tessera della Rivolta: Italy's Failed Fan Identification Card 8. Kicking from the Left: The Friendship of Celtic and FC St. Pauli Supporters 9. "The birthplace of Italian Communism": Political Identity and Action Amongst Livorno Fans 10. Racism, xenophobia and intolerance in Spanish football: Evolution and responses from the government and the civil society 11. "Left Wing" Supporter Movements and the Political Economy of Football
