The project, entitled ‘The Identity Effect of Europeanised Lifestyles: Becoming European through Football?’, aims to advance the universities’ joint basic research into the relationship between changing organisational forms of football and its socio-political implications, using an empirical approach.
Prof. Dr Alexander Brand (Chair of Political Science, specialising in International Relations, Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences) and Prof. Dr Arne Niemann (Chair of International Politics, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz), as project leaders, are delighted to receive this support. “With this research budget, we will be able to significantly strengthen our team,” says Professor Brand. And Professor Niemann adds: “After all, systematically comparing the identity-forming effects of being a football fan across different countries and clubs throughout Europe is a very labour-intensive undertaking.”
The thematic context is provided by the growing interest in political science and sociology in everyday actions and dynamics that are only supposedly apolitical. The aim is to determine whether, and to what extent, the increasing Europeanisation of the transfer market, competitions and the legal regulation of football has also led to a subtle shift in consciousness amongst fans and those with a general interest in football. This aims to fill a gap in research on European identity, which has so far largely overlooked the fact that more than three-quarters of football fans – and no fewer than 61 per cent of Europeans in general – believe that football unites Europe.
The project, based in Kleve and Mainz, will run for 36 months and is scheduled to begin in spring 2018.
