Soccer Fans and the Rules: Making and Unmaking Them

By Williams Nuytens
English

Fans have been concerned since the 1980s when violence began breaking out in the stands of soccer stadiums. Not all fans threaten the law and order: only the most militant turn to violence and in an erratic way. This paper argues that accounting for deviant behavior requires integrating situations and actions. Therefore, this paper is based on fieldwork and interviews with fans. While this approach may appear to be a “short-story” about research, it stresses that the emergence of deviance occurs in the flow of certain interactions. It also shows that while the fan may appear to make and demolish the rule, in many cases, he is no longer master of the “game.”

Keywords

  • SOCIOLOGY
  • SUPPORTERS
  • VIOLENCES
  • RULES
  • INVESTIGATIONS
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