Shared Passion and Ambiguous Identities: Contemporary Football and European Studies

At the start of the 21st century, football represents a meaningful and relevant topic for the field of European studies, both in terms of European public policy following the increasing interest in all aspects of football governance shown by European institutions and as one of the continent’s most widely shared social practices, which contribute to shaping mutual perception patterns and creating affective bonds between Europeans. While the massive display of collective feelings of belonging triggered by each major competition seem to point toward a capacity for football to provoke feelings of aggressive nationalism, it appears that the behavior of the individuals who form the crowds of football supporters is more ambiguous than seems at first sight. This analysis allows us to formulate a set of hypotheses whereby football may be compared to an “identity crutch” that makes humanly understandable the very abstract distinction between cultural belonging (nationality) and political allegiance (citizenship) promoted by theorists of the “post-national constellation” (Habermas). It also allows individuals to develop an ironic attitude and adopt a critical distance toward their own national belonging and the social need to express it publicly. Finally, it constitutes a surprisingly pertinent illustration of the theory of “postmodern reflexivity” (Giddens) by allowing social agents to conduct a permanent revision of their social practices in the light of new findings about the very practices generated by the social sciences. As a passion shared by a very large number of individuals, football provides evidence of the contribution the study of popular culture in its broadest sense can make to a better understanding of affective bonds between Europeans and opens a series of interesting perspectives for future research.