Title:
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A sociological investigation into football fandom as consumption in the age of liquid modernity
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The aim of this thesis is to explore and explain the phenomenon of football fandom
as consumption in liquid modern life. By centralizing fandom within the sociology
of consumption, the work contends that football fandom equates to a fluid series of
routine consumption activities that are practiced in the course of everyday life. Thus,
departing from sociological studies that feature exceptional forms of fandom i.e.
relating to hooliganism, racism, and obsession - this work focuses on regular
consumption practice in order to emphasize the position that seemingly trivial
procedures can have a profound influence on the construction, maintenance and
evolution of football fandom cultures. Furthermore it contends that football fandom
is an organic, liquid-like phenomenon that is slowly moving boundaries of
authenticity based on the reflexivity of practicing agents as they participate in and
respond to the demands of consumer life.
Empirically, the work involves an investigation of participant narratives that
are used to rethink theories of football fandom beyond normative explanation and
associated, rigid theoretical dichotomies. Interviews (N=56) with a purposive cohort
of football fans that responded to a media call for volunteers in 2008 provide the
sample for this thesis and results are analyzed using the method of thematic
discourse analysis. A thorough investigation of the range of experiences expressed
by participants reveals valuable insights into the ways in which agents consume
goods, services, performances, and information - for utilitarian, expressive, or
contemplative purposes and demonstrates how such actions contribute to the
maintenance and evolution of football fandom cultures. The theoretical foundations
supporting this thesis are based on the work of an interdisciplinary mix of scholars
that theorize at both the micro and macro levels of practice.
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