Activism, Collective Action and Supporters’ Associations

Abstract

This chapter investigates fan activism which goes beyond the ‘natural’ context of supporting the local team. The key factor at play here is a collective spirit that enables collective action and achieving various goals. The structure of supporter groups (based on cohesion, loyalty and trust) enables the generation of extraordinary social capital, important for collective action. This makes it easier to mobilize the resources of group members in situations which require, for instance, organizing a trip of a few thousand supporters to an away match or when preparing a street protest. Their engagement in various actions is also facilitated by their organizations: the first supporters’ associations emerged in the early 2000s. Initially, they dealt with typical fan issues like distribution of tickets. Over time, however, their activism has come to include charity and educational actions, commemorations of historical events and rescuing failing clubs. Explaining their motivation for activism, the respondents indicated such factors as the intention to demonstrate the positive side of fan activity and to break the stereotype of the ‘hooligan’, to use the potential of the group, to work for the sake of the club and to raise new generations of fans.