The role of football in the Yugoslav crisis. “Nationalisation” of the football fandom in the former Yugoslavia
Keywords:
football,
fans,
the Yugoslav crisis,
ethnic conflicts,
politicisation
Abstract
The strong connection between everyday politics and football fandom represents a distinctive characteristic of a football culture in contemporary Serbia. This paper focuses on the issues related to strong political influence of “nationalised” political space in the former Yugoslavia that caused specific politicisation of football supporters in the country. I argue that political capital of the football fans derives from the specific social and political environment that characterised the process of disintegration of the former Yugoslavia. The aim of this article is to emphasize the connection between growing nationalisation of politics and specific events that took place on football stadiums during the late 1980s and the early 1990s in the SFRY. Through the analysis of the particular events from that period, this article aims to analyse the causes that led to transformation of the subculture of the football fans to political agents par excellence.
References
Armstrong, Gary. 1998. Football hooligans : knowing the score, Explorations in anthropology. Oxford ; New York: Berg.
Battachi, M. 1988. "Fino a che punto i tifosi violenti sono violenti o fino a che punto sono tifosi." In Il tifo aggressivo, edited by A. Salvinni. Firenze: Ginati.
Brentin, Dario. 2013. "'A lofty battle for the nation': the social roles of sport in Tudjman's Croatia." Sport in Society: Cultures, Commerce, Media, Politics no. 16 (8):993-1008.
Brubaker, Rogers. 1996. Nationalism reframed : nationhood and the national question in the New Europe. Cambridge England ; New York: Cambridge University Press.
Čolović, Ivan. 2000. Politika simbola. Beograd: XX vek.
Čolović, Ivan. 2013. Fudbal, huligani i rat 2009 [cited 12.05. 2013]. Available from http://www.e-novine.com/srbija/srbija-tema/30514-Fudbal-huligani-rat.html.
Đorđević, Ivan. 2012. "Twenty years later: The war did (not) begin at Maksimir an anthropological analysis of the media narratives about a never ended football game." Glasnik Etnografskog instituta SANU no. 60 (2).
Foer, Franklin. 2004. How soccer explains the world : an unlikely theory of globalization. New York: HarperCollins.
Mihailović, Srećko. 1997. "Rat je počeo 13. maja 1990." In Rat je počeo na Maksimiru, edited by Svetlana Slapšak and Hari Štajner, 77-124. Beograd: Medija centar.
Mikus, Marek. 2011. "''State Pride'': Politics of LGBT Rights and Democratisation in ''European Serbia"." East European Politics and Societies no. 25 (4):834-851.
Mills, Richard. 2009. "It All Ended in an Unsporting Way': Serbian Football and the Disintegration of Yugoslavia, 1989-2006." International Journal of the History of Sport no. 26 (9):1187-1217.
Milosavljević, Olivera. 2005. "Antibirokratska revolucija, 1987.-1989." In Dijalog povjesničara-istoričara, edited by Hans-Georg Fleck and Igor Graovac, 319-337. Zagreb: Zaklada Friedrich Naumann.
Nielsen, Christian Axboe. 2010. "The goalposts of transition: football as a metaphor for Serbia's long journey to the rule of law." Nationalities Papers no. 38 (1):87-103.
Nielsen, Christian Axboe. 2013. "Stronger than the state? Football hooliganism, political extremism and the Gay Pride Parades in Serbia." Sport in Society no. 16 (8).
Pavasovic Trost, Tamara, and Nikola Kovacevic. 2013. "Football, hooliganism and nationalism: the reaction to Serbia's gay parade in reader commentary online." Sport in Society no. 16 (8).
Pickering, Paula, and Mark Baskin. 2008. "What is to be done? Succession from the League of Communists of Croatia." Communist and Post-Communist Studies no. 41:521-540.
Spasić, Ivana. 2003. "Sećanje na nedavnu prošlost." In Politika i svakodnevni život. Srbija 1999-2002, edited by Zagorka Golubović, Ivana Spasić and Đorđe Pavićević. Beograd: Institut za filozofiju i društvenu teoriju.
Vrcan, Srđan. 2002. "The Curious Drama of the president of a Republic Versus a Football Fan Tribe." International Review for the Sociology of Sport no. 37 (1):59-77.
Vrcan, Srđan. 2003. Nogomet-politika-nasilje: ogledi iz sociologije nogometa. Zagreb: Naklada Jesenski i Turk.
Vrcan, Srđan, and Dražen Lalić. 1999. "From Ends tp Trenches and Back: Football in the Former Yugoslavia." In Football Cultures and Identities, edited by Gary Armstrong and Richard Giulianotti. Basingstoke: Macmillan.
Wilson, Jonathan. 2006. Behind the Curtain: Football in Eastern Europe: Travels in Eastern European Football. London: Orion.
Battachi, M. 1988. "Fino a che punto i tifosi violenti sono violenti o fino a che punto sono tifosi." In Il tifo aggressivo, edited by A. Salvinni. Firenze: Ginati.
Brentin, Dario. 2013. "'A lofty battle for the nation': the social roles of sport in Tudjman's Croatia." Sport in Society: Cultures, Commerce, Media, Politics no. 16 (8):993-1008.
Brubaker, Rogers. 1996. Nationalism reframed : nationhood and the national question in the New Europe. Cambridge England ; New York: Cambridge University Press.
Čolović, Ivan. 2000. Politika simbola. Beograd: XX vek.
Čolović, Ivan. 2013. Fudbal, huligani i rat 2009 [cited 12.05. 2013]. Available from http://www.e-novine.com/srbija/srbija-tema/30514-Fudbal-huligani-rat.html.
Đorđević, Ivan. 2012. "Twenty years later: The war did (not) begin at Maksimir an anthropological analysis of the media narratives about a never ended football game." Glasnik Etnografskog instituta SANU no. 60 (2).
Foer, Franklin. 2004. How soccer explains the world : an unlikely theory of globalization. New York: HarperCollins.
Mihailović, Srećko. 1997. "Rat je počeo 13. maja 1990." In Rat je počeo na Maksimiru, edited by Svetlana Slapšak and Hari Štajner, 77-124. Beograd: Medija centar.
Mikus, Marek. 2011. "''State Pride'': Politics of LGBT Rights and Democratisation in ''European Serbia"." East European Politics and Societies no. 25 (4):834-851.
Mills, Richard. 2009. "It All Ended in an Unsporting Way': Serbian Football and the Disintegration of Yugoslavia, 1989-2006." International Journal of the History of Sport no. 26 (9):1187-1217.
Milosavljević, Olivera. 2005. "Antibirokratska revolucija, 1987.-1989." In Dijalog povjesničara-istoričara, edited by Hans-Georg Fleck and Igor Graovac, 319-337. Zagreb: Zaklada Friedrich Naumann.
Nielsen, Christian Axboe. 2010. "The goalposts of transition: football as a metaphor for Serbia's long journey to the rule of law." Nationalities Papers no. 38 (1):87-103.
Nielsen, Christian Axboe. 2013. "Stronger than the state? Football hooliganism, political extremism and the Gay Pride Parades in Serbia." Sport in Society no. 16 (8).
Pavasovic Trost, Tamara, and Nikola Kovacevic. 2013. "Football, hooliganism and nationalism: the reaction to Serbia's gay parade in reader commentary online." Sport in Society no. 16 (8).
Pickering, Paula, and Mark Baskin. 2008. "What is to be done? Succession from the League of Communists of Croatia." Communist and Post-Communist Studies no. 41:521-540.
Spasić, Ivana. 2003. "Sećanje na nedavnu prošlost." In Politika i svakodnevni život. Srbija 1999-2002, edited by Zagorka Golubović, Ivana Spasić and Đorđe Pavićević. Beograd: Institut za filozofiju i društvenu teoriju.
Vrcan, Srđan. 2002. "The Curious Drama of the president of a Republic Versus a Football Fan Tribe." International Review for the Sociology of Sport no. 37 (1):59-77.
Vrcan, Srđan. 2003. Nogomet-politika-nasilje: ogledi iz sociologije nogometa. Zagreb: Naklada Jesenski i Turk.
Vrcan, Srđan, and Dražen Lalić. 1999. "From Ends tp Trenches and Back: Football in the Former Yugoslavia." In Football Cultures and Identities, edited by Gary Armstrong and Richard Giulianotti. Basingstoke: Macmillan.
Wilson, Jonathan. 2006. Behind the Curtain: Football in Eastern Europe: Travels in Eastern European Football. London: Orion.
Published
2016-02-26
Section
Scientific Articles
Copyright (c) 2016 Ivan Đorđević
All articles in Issues in Ethnology and Anthropology are published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 3.0 Serbia (CC BY), which allows authors and users to copy, distribute, transmit and adapt the article.
The CC BY license permits non-commercial and commercial re-use of an open access article, as long as the author is properly attributed.
Copyright on any research article published by Issues in Ethnology and Anthropology is retained by the author(s).
Authors grant to the Issues in Ethnology and Anthropology the right to publish the article, to be cited as its original publisher in case of reuse, and to distribute it in all forms and media. Copyright and source must be acknowledged and a link must be made to the article's DOI.
DOAJ - Directory of Open Access Journals
ROAD - Directory of Open Access Scholarly Resources
World Cat 
AnthroSerbia
