Getting into Europe: Identification, Prejudice and Politics in English Football Culture

This book is an investigation into the identifications and stories told by football supporters about some ill-defined entity called "Europe". The title is inspired by the often heard phrase that successful English football teams are aiming to "get into Europe", when they are actually seeking qualification to UEFA club competition. The core interest is therefore to consider whether the experiences of football fandom (and the ways in which these are recounted) may be developing identifications with Europe and whether this may legitimate the EU or assist in reducing intra-European xenophobia. This research is concerned with the consumption of football in English and European competitions, with more than one eye on fan perceptions of transnational developments in the sport and its possible socio-political resonance. Fan discourses are extremely important given that close to 13 million people walked through the turnstiles to watch Premier League (the highest division in English professional football) in 2005/6 season. Hundreds of millions of other fans watched the same games on television across the globe, to such an extent that television companies are prepared to pay £2.7bn for three seasons worth of Premiership games (BBC News 2007). However, the research is also centrally interested in the development of European identities, particularly in respect to the way „Europe‟ is consumed. It is concerned with the tensions of discourses which, on the one hand, present Europe as abstract and almost ill-definable and, on the other, with a Europe situated within everyday lived practices. So, this book is about both sport and Europe, which are two social issues of great social magnitude and in this book the voices of football fans – those that propel the sport to such levels - are heard

World Cup 2022 and Qatar's Construction Projects: Relational Power in Networks and Relational Responsibilities to Migrant Workers

This article explores the relational power and responsibilities to migrant workers on physical infrastructure projects in Qatar connected to the sovereign state hosting the Fédération Internationale de Football Association World Cup 2022. Currently, these construction workers operate under the Kafala system, which is upheld in Qatar. However, large numbers of Qatar's visiting migrant construction workers were recorded as injured or killed through incidents that were related to their work. Further still, many other migrant workers reported poorly sanitised living conditions and being 'trapped' by their Kafil with passports withheld or wages not forthcoming, prompting criticism from international non-governmental organisations. This article adopts a relational sociological approach (see Crossley 2010) to discuss how 'responsibilities' for deaths, injuries and illnesses are passed between key actors that include the State of Qatar, Fédération Internationale de Football Association, World Cup sponsors, building contractors and sub-contractors, and the recruitment agencies that find workers in other countries to work on the construction sites. As such, it makes three scholarly contributions: it leads in unpacking and discussing the treatment of migrant construction workers in World Cup 2022 infrastructure projects in Qatar; it follows work by Timms (2012a; 2012b) in adding to the literature on the passing of responsibilities for migrant workers between states and corporations in globalized societies and, it uses the case to further critically unpack Castells’ notions of relational power in networks

’We All Dream of a Team of Carraghers’: Comparing the semiotics of ‘local’ and Texan Liverpool fans’ talk

There are strong grounds upon which it can be argued that the English Premier League (EPL) holds global appeal. This article carries out a semiotic analysis on the role that Liverpool F.C.’s Bootle-born defender, Jamie Carragher holds amongst two spatially disparate supporter communities, one principally based in Liverpool and the other in Texas. Despite the historical influence and connection with locally born players, evolving European migration patterns and continental football philosophies have limited the progression of ‘Scouse’ players at Liverpool. Jamie Carragher is a contemporary exception, who has become a focal point for the ‘local’ supporters’ affections. His status has been propelled by his interpretation and implementation of the core working class values of the city and the club, displayed through his conduct off the pitch and his performances on it. Drawing from the perspectives of ‘local’ and Texas-based fans, this paper expands upon these issues, and examines Liverpool supporters’ evolving heroism of Jamie Carragher. A mixed-method qualitative approach was adopted, involving ethnographic techniques, participant observation, interview methods and podcast analysis

Football Fandom, Mobilisation and Herbert Blumer: A Social Movement Analysis of F.C. United of Manchester

This article explores the establishment and development of fan-owned association football club, F.C. United of Manchester. It does this by drawing upon extensive ethnographic fieldwork, including interviews, observations and an analysis of multiple texts, such as fanzines, web-based and media reports materials and discusses this using Herbert Blumer’s theory of collective behavior. As such, the article addresses two research questions: first, what the empirical case example of F.C. United of Manchester offers to the critical understanding of Blumer’s theory and second, what the theory can give to the understanding of twenty-first century protests in popular culture. Therefore this article contributes to contemporary debates on association football fandom, social movements and the theories of Herbert Blumer

Castells, 'Murdochization', Economic Counterpower and Livestreaming

In his Information Age trilogy, Manuel Castells documents the transformation of economic power by means of network affordances. In more recent work, he has built an account of the linking of economic power with cultural and political power through ‘Murdochization’ or ‘the networking of networks’. Whilst Castells’ account of power has thus developed to acknowledge the integration of economic, cultural and political interests within networks, his account of ‘counterpower’ remains largely focused on cultural and political resistance in the form of protest. Here we explore a case of economic counterpower, the unauthorized livestreaming of digital sports broadcasts. Analysis of this particular case (of counterpower) is particularly significant, given the centrality of Murdochization in Castells’ account of power in the network society. Emerging out of, alongside, and in response to the growth of, Murdochized digital media sports networks, we explore the scope and limits of livestreaming as a form of economic counterpower and counter-Murdochization. In this article, we document Castells’ theory of network power, the centrality of Murdochization to that account, and the centrality of monopoly control over digital sports broadcasting to Murdochized media empires. The scope and resilience of alternative streaming media in switching live sports programming from pay to view to free sharing is then examined. The failure to date of all attempts to prohibit free streams shows the ongoing viability of such economic counterpower. However, whilst dominant actors cannot eliminate economic counterpower, where dominant actors choose not to broadcast, no switching of content can take place

Castells, ‘Murdochisation’, Economic Counterpower and Live-Streaming

In his Information Age trilogy, Manuel Castells documents the transformation of economic power by means of network affordances. In more recent work, he has built an account of the linking of economic power with cultural and political power through 'Murdochisation', or 'the networking of networks'. Whilst Castells’ account of power has thus developed to acknowledge the integration of economic, cultural and political interests and networks, his account of 'counterpower' remains largely focussed on cultural and political resistance in the form of protest. Here we explore a case of economic counterpower; the unauthorised live-streaming of digital sports broadcasts. Analysis of this particular case (of counterpower) is particularly significant given the centrality of ‘Murdochisation’ in Castells’ account of power in the network society. Emerging out of, alongside, and in response to the growth of Murdochised digital media sports networks, we explore the scope and limits of live-streaming as a form of economic counterpower and counter-Murdochisation. In this article, we document Castells’ theory of network power, the centrality of ‘Murdochisation’ to that account, and the centrality of monopoly control over digital sports broadcasting to Murdochised media empires. The scope and resilience of alternative streaming media in switching live sports programming from pay to view to free sharing is then examined. The failure to date of all attempts to prohibit free streams shows the on-going viability of such economic counterpower. However, whilst dominant actors cannot eliminate economic counterpower, where dominant actors choose not to broadcast, no switching of content can take place

Chasing a Tiger in a network society? Hull City’s proposed name change in the pursuit of China and East Asia’s new middle class consumers

The English Premier League possesses multiple global dimensions, including its clubs’ economic ownership, player recruitment patterns and television broadcasts of its matches. The owner of Hull City Association Football Club’s economic rights, Dr Assam Allam, announced plans to re-name the club ‘Hull City Tigers’ in an attempt to re-orientate the club towards seemingly lucrative East Asian, and specifically Chinese, markets in 2013. This article, first, draws upon Manuel Castells’ work in The Rise of the Network Society to critically discuss the logic of Hull City’s proposed reorientation to suit ‘new middle class’ consumers in China and the East Asian global region and second, uses the example to theoretically engage with Castells’ idea that ‘networks’ replace ‘hierarchies’ as social structures. This leads to the argument that while these plans might intend to strengthen the club’s financial position, they overlook a concern with local environments that Castells guides us toward. By looking toward the local consumer practices in China and the East Asian global region, Allam would find: (a) the normalisation in production and consumption of counterfeit club-branded sportswear and television broadcasts which makes increasing the club’s revenues difficult; and (b) that the region’s ‘new middle classes’ (marked by disposable income) are unlikely to foster support for Hull City, even if ‘Tigers’ is added to its name

Living Stone

My sculptural work has a direct relationship to the rich tradition which utilizes human form as its primary means of communication and visual exploration. This tradition employs body language and gesture to convey emotion and ideas. Even my abstract work begins as an idea from a figurative gesture. Rather than executing a naturalistic body, I simplify and stylize the figures, focusing on the concept and aesthetics of the piece. To do so, I emphasize certain formal elements in the design: concave and convex planes juxtapose to intensify light and shadow.Shapes are made by a continuity of line to create a sense of movement. Smooth and rough textures bring energy and contrast to the surface. I employ these visual elements to develop a spiritual and universal context rather than utilizing a corporeal rendering of the subject as has been done in the past