Legacies of dialogue, risk and securitization: The renewed insecurity of citizenship-state relations in European football fandom

Ludvigsen, J and Turner, M Legacies of dialogue, risk and securitization: The renewed insecurity of citizenship-state relations in European football fandom. International Review for the Sociology of Sport. ISSN 1012-6902 (Accepted)

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Abstract

Sociologists of sport have explored how the transformation of European football is characterized by a movement for stronger, democratic and citizen-centred supporter dialogue and governance. Whilst research has analysed mobilizations on citizenship and democracy, it neglects the longer-term, relational-temporal field in which such mobilisations are embedded. We address this gap by investigating and theorizing the regulatory timescape of European football (1985-2025) and, in turn, unpack citizenship-state relations in a novel context, thus contributing to knowledge of contemporary debates on dialogue, risk and securitisation. The importance of supporter dialogue and democratic engagement is becoming politically salient but also embedded in more institutionalized forms of social control, through the planning, management, and regulation of high-profile events. Synthesizing the fields of sociology, risk studies, citizen-centred governance, and social movement studies, we critically engage with relevant literature; draw on analyses of policy-documents, press releases, and legal texts; and develop a temporal analysis informed by our prior-empirical work on European football fandom, to unpack the role and outcomes of supporter-based collective action within new legal-regulatory frameworks, and consider what this reveals about the historical and contemporary views of supporters as deviant and risky populations. In doing so, we add conceptual and theoretical value to the study of insecure citizenship-state relations, required for future empirical analyses to unpack the challenges and possibilities of prefiguring a more participatory, and accountable governance of football and its fans.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	1504 Commercial Services; 1608 Sociology; 2002 Cultural Studies; Sport, Leisure & Tourism; 4207 Sports science and exercise; 4410 Sociology
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HM Sociology G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GV Recreation Leisure > GV561 Sports
Divisions:	Humanities and Social Science
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
Date of acceptance:	12 February 2026
Date Deposited:	13 Mar 2026 10:49
Last Modified:	13 Mar 2026 10:49
URI:	https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/28241

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