Institut für Musikwissenschaft, Hörsaal 2

Insurgent Fandom investigates a youth subculture you’ve never heard of called ultra. The most dedicated soccer fans who sing, wave flags and light marine flares to support their respective teams on the field, ultras also critique the capitalistic tendencies of professional sport and question the legitimacy of the authorities who make the rules. In spite of public misperceptions of ultras as hooligans, I argue that ultras’ performative style of support in the stadium is in part a form of protest informed by their constant friction with the state, the mainstream media, and the commercial priorities of sports’ governing bodies. Because of this conflict with authority, fandom for ultras takes on a collective social life in which the game on the field often becomes a secondary concern. With political implications extending past the realm of sports, ultras have even become key actors in some of the most significant mass protests of the 21st Century—including those in Cairo (2011), Istanbul (2013), and Kiev (2013). Embracing a politic of dissent at the heart of crowd action, Insurgent Fandomcasts a light upon the apparatuses of governance that aim to mitigate the potentially inflammatory dispositions of the hardcore fans while examining stadia as a breeding ground for alternative social and political possibilities.

Dr. Max Jack (Max-Planck-Institut für Bildungsforschung)