This book explores the key issues of racism, anti-racism and identity in British football. It relates the history of black players in the game, analyses the racism they have experienced, and evaluates the efficacy of anti-racist campaigns. The efficacy of the policing of racism is also assessed. The nationalism and xenophobia evident in much of the media's coverage of major tournaments is highlighted in the context of the way that English, Scottish and Welsh identities are constructed within British football.

European societies have long been tarnished by racial discrimination, and the game of football is no exception. With immigrants arriving from former colonies, European Union member-states, and third-world countries, integration in these two societies has been ascribed significance across the continent. Considering that the conduct of football fans in stadiums reflects_to a certain extent_society as a whole, this book examines the impact of racism upon the popular game. Anti-Racism in European Football provides a critical assessment of the campaigns and related policies of organizations that work to understand racism in football. It explores what has been achieved by the organizations' campaigns, the problems they encountered, and how these were overcome. In its focus on the work that anti-racism organizations carry out, this book's original contributions should appeal to professionals in football-related NGOs, and students and scholars working in social science fields related to racism and sport.

Acknowledging efforts to dismantle racism at multiple levels, this book examines racism and anti-racism as interconnected rather than isolated issues, proposing a framework for effective anti-racist policy and practice.

This study, based on government records, newspaper articles and fanzines, explores the complex interaction between politicians, police and the perpetrators of football violence. Bebber looks at how successive governments tried to impose law and order on football ‘hooligans’, whilst inadvertently escalating the violence.

Racism and English Football: For Club and Country analyses the contemporary manifestations, outcomes and implications of the fractious relationship between English professional football and race. Racism, we were told, had disappeared from English football. It was relegated to a distant past, and displaced onto other European countries. When its appearance could not be denied, it was said to have reappeared. This book reveals that this was not true. Racism did not go away and did not return. It was here all along. The book argues that racism is firmly embedded and historically rooted in the game’s structures, cultures and institutions, and operates as a form of systemic discrimination. It addresses the ways that racism has tainted English football, and the manner in which football has, in turn, influenced racial meanings and formations in wider society. Equally, it explores how football has facilitated forms of occupational multiculture, black player activism and progressive fan politics that resist divisive social phenomena and offer a degree of hope for an alternative future. Focusing on a diverse range of topics, in men’s and women’s football, at club and international level, Racism and English Football extends and expands our knowledge of how racism occurs and, critically, how it can be challenged. This is an essential read for scholars and students working on race, ethnicity, sport and popular culture, together with those interested in the social and organisational dynamics of English professional football more generally.

Rural issues are currently attracting unprecedented levels of interest, with the debates surrounding the future of 'traditional' rural customs and practice becoming a significant political concern. However, the problem of racism in rural areas has been largely overlooked by academics, practitioners and researchers who have sought almost exclusively to develop an understanding of racism in urban contexts. This book aims to address this oversight by examining notions of ethnic identity, 'otherness' and racist victimisation that have tended to be marginalised from traditional rural discourse.

All scholarly books are engagements with the existing literature, often the published scholarly work of one established discipline. This book originated with modest objectives, to produce a work that would be in conversation with the literature of international relations even though not of relevance only to that field. The professed goal of international relations is international peace. The ethical lens of pondering the best means to achieve world peace is used to filter media content in the field of multiculturalism and anti-racism. Although there has been little work on the impact of racial difference on the contours of contemporary international order, there has been a sizeable body of research intended to abolish the credibility of pseudo-scientific racism. Such racism has provided the ideological foundation and justification for imperialism, colonialism, the holocaust, and apartheid. Race has been debunked as a myth. Because of this, racism - the ideology bred of human classification according to racial difference - has been found to be intellectually and morally barren. But the need to communicate egalitarian and scientific sentiments remains. The contributors to this volume consider five questions: How does the literature on antiracism improve our understanding of conflict resolution? How does the analysis of the media's role in racist and anti-racist discourses improve the process of theorizing on hate and war propaganda? How can research on anti-racist discourse improve UN peacekeeping? What implications does this subject have for theory-building and cultural diversity? How and why should the literature on anti-racism expand research in international relations? This is a unique, worthwhile framework for cross-disciplinary research in race and intellectual consensus and conflict.

The atmosphere experienced by those attending football matches has changed hugely since the 1970s and 80s when racial and other forms of abuse were common. Match attendance has become much more of a family-friendly activity and clubs continue to introduce measures to try to improve the standards of behaviour at matches. However, there remain significant problems ranging from homophobic abuse to what is often described as "laddish behaviour" on the terraces. Transparent and consistent methods for reporting criminal behaviour including racism are still lacking, in particular at grass roots level. The Committee recommends: it should be a priority for the FA to develop procedures for stewards to follow and regular training opportunities to ensure that all relevant staff at club grounds are capable of reacting swiftly and consistently to incidents of abuse; the efforts being made at league and club level to ensure successful prosecutions in cases of racial abuse are extremely welcome; however, it is important that similar efforts are applied to the grassroots game; all appointments should be based on merit alone irrespective of the candidates' race; candidates from ethnic minorities to train as coaches and referees, to ensure that clubs and boards can select from a more diverse pool of recruits

A comparative political sociology of anti-racism in Europe, showing the various discourses within this movement

European Football is Black and White offers an engaging interpretation of a disturbing phenomenon in Europe's favorite sport: football violence fueled by racism. While many fans across Europe have used football to further destructive, ethnocentric agendas, there are also Europe-wide initiatives in the football stadium to combat the almost endemic problem. Christos Kassimeris analyses political ideologies that have influenced football supporters, drawing attention to the increasing politicization of football and the footballization of politics. He also considers the contributions of nationalism, social class, and media coverage before assessing attempts by various groups, from the Football Against Racism in Europe (FARE) network to the European Union itself, to rectify the problem. Ultimately, football needs to be dissociated from both racism and politics for the sport to flourish. Unlike more traditional attempts to explain the football violence and racism, this book seeks to establish a Europe-wide as well as national explanatory framework for this racism from a political perspective. This study will draw the interest not only of scholars across the Humanities and Social Sciences, but also of ordinary football supporters.