The Political Football Stadium: Identity Discourses and Power Struggles

This book focuses on the football stadium as a political space  and examines how stadiums can be viewed as the objects and catalysts of  political change. Rather than acting as functional constructions  designed merely to host football games, stadiums stand out in the urban  landscape as landmarks that serve as gathering points for large  communities.

The manifestation of the political in  football stadiums can be heard in the discontent voiced by supporter  activism; in the use of stadiums for national and local identity  politics; in attempts to instrumentalize emotions by both totalitarian  and democratic regimes; among fan groups in political uprisings, and in  the surveillance of fans through e-tickets and seat allocation.

This  edited collection brings together a variety of case studies from a wide  range of different contexts. Contributors stem from political science,  sociology, history, anthropology, human geography and urbanism. As such,  the book redefines and broadens what we understand as the political  dimension of the football stadium.