ASPECTS OF HOOLIGAN VIOLENCE

                            A Reappraisal of Sociological Research  into Football Hooliganism
                                                                         ABSTRACT:
Systematic and detailed comparative  research into hooligan identities constitutes a vital new
approach to the study of football hooliganism. Despite the ongoing globalization of football
culture  and  societies at large, there  remain  important  national and  local  variations in the
manifestation of football hooliganism worldwide. These  dissimilarities thwart efforts to
conceptualize and  explain  football hooliganism as a  homogeneous phenomenon and, more
specifically, seriously limit the applicability of dominant sociological theories on the subject.
It  is argued  in this essay that comparative  research into football hooliganism should  move
beyond  general explanations in  terms of societal fault lines and  towards a  more  detailed
analysis of hooligan identities and  social interactions between hooligans and significant
others. Although emphasizing the  great practical  heterogeneity of football hooliganism, the
author suggests that a number of universal aspects can be identified. On the basis of long­term
fieldwork  among  hooligan formations, the  author distinguishes six  key aspects of football
hooliganism as a transnational phenomenon:  excitement and  pleasurable  emotional arousal;
the  construction of hard  masculine  identity; territorial identifications; the  individual and
collective  management of reputation; solidarity and  belonging; and  sovereignty and
autonomy.