Jacco Van Sterkenburg
Biographic Data
| ID | 104494 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Jacco Van Sterkenburg |
| GIVEN NAMES | Jacco |
| FAMILY NAME | Van Sterkenburg |
| SIGNATURE | VAN STERKENBURG J |
| AFFILIATIONS | Erasmus University Rotterdam |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-3884-9934 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 38 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 178 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 38 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2004 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 8 |
Theory-Building and Multi-Level Analysis: Further Broadening the Horizon of Communication & Sport
In this brief essay, I will highlight and elaborate on some of the main reflections put forth by Cummins and Hahn in their recently published systematic review of 10 years of academic work in Communication & Sport (2013–2022). In the first part, I will elaborate on some of the shortcomings the authors identify in the use of theory in the sampled articles. In the second section, I will reflect on methodological approaches in the journal, as they a…
One rotten apple or a rotten tree: Football leaders’ perceptions of racism in European football
Despite efforts by key stakeholders to address racial discrimination in international football, racially charged behaviour persists, particularly in the European context. To explore this phenomenon, our paper employs Critical Race Theory as a central framework and links empirical research to racism and inclusion while keeping institutional football and policy concerns at the forefront of its investigation. Primary questions underlining the study …
Race in televised football: Insights from behind-the-scenes within major English football media organizations
Discrimination, management and social movements in the world of sports and mediated sports
Discrimination, management and social movements in the world of sports and mediated sports
Race and whiteness in football talk amongst English fans: Audience receptions of televised national team coverage
Televised football is still one of the main ways in which football fans consume football. Earlier studies into audience receptions of televised football often used focus group interviews with football fans and generally concluded that majority ethnic audiences tend to be engaged in 'football talk' that reproduces already existing racial/ethnic stereotypes and identifications. The current study takes one step further and has explored the consumpti…
From studio to screen: The production processes of Polish televised football and discursive (re)constructions of race/ethnicity
In this study, we shed light on the relationship between the production processes in televised football in Poland and representations of race/ethnicity. Previous research has extensively explored representations of race/ethnicity in mediated sports texts, but there remains a gap in understanding the production processes and their connection to these representations, particularly in contexts beyond the Anglosphere. In order to address this gap, in…
Media and representation of others. Case of Iran in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics
Nowadays, the media plays a key part in representing nations in mega-sporting events. In this study, we aimed to examine how Western English-language news sources represented Iran, as an Eastern and Islamic country, in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. To accomplish this, data were collected using LexisNexis Academic, Google Search, and Google News tools. We utilised topic modelling, a text summarisation technique for data analysis. The analysis generated…
Meanings given to race/ethnicity in everyday football talk by young adult Polish audiences: A reception study
A wide body of research has focused on representations of race/ethnicity in sport media content, because of its central location in popular culture. These studies found that sport media content serves as a site where hegemonic and reductive discourses surrounding racial/ethnic identities are habitually reproduced. So far, these studies have predominantly been textual analyses. Studies that take into account the polysemic readings of media content…
Talking football: Discourses about race/ethnicity among Spanish youth
It is commonly accepted that sports media and televised football in particular are sites where ideas about race/ethnicity are (re)produced. However, less is known about how audiences deal with these messages: do they assume these ideas are true or do they negotiate them and if so, how? Using cultural studies as our theoretical framework, we conducted 14 focus groups among Spanish youth and asked them to reflect on ideas about race/ethnicity while…
Online Football-Related Antisemitism in the Context of the Covid-19 Pandemic: A Multi-Method Analysis of the Dutch Twittersphere
This paper examines online expressions of rivalry and hate speech in relation to antisemitic discourses in Dutch professional men's football (soccer), with specific attention devoted to how this has developed within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. This study analyses football-related antisemitic discourses in the Dutch-speaking Twittersphere between 2018 and 2021. Assuming that during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic fan activity has moved inc…
Meanings given to (super-)diversity in the Dutch national team by Dutch football commentators: A historical approach
International football can be considered the main site for meaning-making processes related to national and racial/ethnic diversity. Various scholars have argued how international football, with the World Cup as its apex, can be seen as a barometer for understanding dominant attitudes towards societal diversity. A key domain where this diversity is interpreted and given meaning to is mediated football. To provide a wider overview of - often inter…
Female elite sports achievements in Iran. The Case of the First Olympic Medalist
The present study aims to identify the societal implications of the first-ever Iranian female medalist in the Olympics to date. We explored the meanings given to Kimia Alizadeh's success within Iranian society. We collected data through an examination of online news agencies and social networking sites using Leximancer software, a computer-assisted program for qualitative content analysis. This analysis uncovered four main themes: 'women's sports…
Representations of race/ethnicity and the nation: A content analysis of televised Polish international football
This study explores the meanings given to race/ethnicity by Polish commentators covering games of the Polish national football team on TV. There will be an explicit focus on how such patterns of representation might intersect with those given to national identities in the context of international football. Our analysis reveals that commentators habitually reproduce the racialized stereotype of the 'natural Black athlete', particularly in the repr…
Expressing rivalry online: Antisemitic rhetoric among Dutch football supporters on Twitter
The aim of this study is to analyse online expressions of rivalry and hate speech in relation to antisemitic and philosemitic discourse(s) in Dutch professional men’s football (soccer). We collected data from Twitter using the Twitter API and scraped Tweets relating to a match between the supposedly ‘Jewish’ club Ajax and its rival Feyenoord on 17 January 2021. A selection of the collected Tweets was analysed more in depth using narrative digital…
Constructing ‘race/ethnicity’ and nationality in Spanish media: A content analysis of international football coverage
Televised football in Spain enjoys great popularity as it is watched by millions of people every year. It has also been suggested as a site where ideas about race/ethnicity are (re)produced and national football teams have been proposed as key elements in the formation and/or confirmation of national identities. In this qualitative research we analyse the transcripts of 11 televised football matches of the Spanish national team with the goal of u…
Media discourses on ‘race’ and gender
Sport media and the cultural circulation of race/ethnicity: Moving from content analyses to production studies
The racial/ethnic diversity that can be seen in televised football, together with its wide audience, makes it an interesting place to study meanings given to race/ethnicity. Previous research on the content of these discourses has found that televised football in different countries reproduces a variety of racial/ethnic stereotypes. These discourses arguably help to perpetuate and ‘naturalize’ racial/ethnic inequities. In order to better illumina…
How do audiences of televised English football construct difference based on race/ethnicity
Our study analyses media audiences of football within the English context. The research question can be formulated as follows: How do young people at a Northern-England university interpret and (re)construct discourses surrounding race/ethnicity in men’s televised football? Results from our focus groups with young football media audiences show how they take a relatively race-conscious perspective in comparison to most earlier studies. At the same…
Football and the media construction of Iranian national identity during the Fifa World Cup 2018 and AFC Asian Cup 2019
Elite sport success in international tournaments is supposed to play an important role in shaping national identity. In this article, we explore if and how this applies to the Iranian context. The current study made use of a Google alert with the title of ‘Iran Men’s National Football Team’, and a general content analysis of Iranian national and sport media. The analytic focus was on media coverage of the Iranian national football team at the 201…
The diversification of national football teams: Using the idea of migration corridors to explore the underlying structures of nationality changes amongst foreign-born players at the football World Cup
The inclusion of foreign-born sportspeople in national sports teams has become increasingly common. At the same time, the assumed increase in diversity within national football teams has turned into a major subject of (inter)national controversy and debate. This applies, in particular, to the football World Cup, as the assumed increase in foreign-born players in national football teams detracts from the (homogeneous) nation-state basis of the Féd…
Prejudice in the People’s Game: A Content Analysis of Race/Ethnicity in Polish Televised Football
This study explores how televised football in Poland serves as a site for the (re)construction of discourses surrounding race and ethnicity and to what extent this squares with previous studies on sport media conducted mainly in Western countries. In our analysis, we identify the discourses surrounding race and ethnicity that the commentators in televised football draw on and examine how they relate to hegemonic discourses and categorizations in …
Exploring Discourses About Race/Ethnicity in a Spanish TV Football Program
The aim of this study was to examine discourses about race/ethnicity in Spanish football commentary, where this type of research is scarce. Previous research in other countries has found that football commentators tend to draw on racial/ethnic stereotypes when commenting on players. This, combined with the large audiences that televised football attracts, may contribute to the (re)production of racialized discourses. In this study, we conducted a…
Has the World Cup become more migratory? A comparative history of foreign-born players in national football teams, c. 1930-2018
While the presence of foreign-born footballers in national teams has a long history, it is often believed that the World Cup has become more migratory over time. The presumed increases in the volume and diversity of foreign-born footballers have, however, remained empirically untested. In this article, we empirically test whether the presence of foreign-born footballers at the World Cup has changed over time in respect to these two dimensions of …
Four histories about early Dutch football 1910-1920
Dominant Discourses about Race/Ethnicity and Gender in Sport Practice and Performance
Although it is generally assumed that the (sport) media play an important role in the meanings readers/viewers give to gender and race/ethnicity, relatively little is known about the way 'the public' deals with hegemonic (media) representations about race/ethnicity and gender. The purpose of the present study is to describe the dominant discourses concerning race/ethnicity and gender and sport performance used by white and black Dutch students. W…
Constructing Racial/Ethnic Difference in and Through Dutch Televised Soccer Commentary
The purpose of this study was to expand on current research about ways in which race and ethnicity are socially constructed through popular media culture. In this article we explore to what extent broadcast commentary of televised soccer in the Netherlands reproduces and challenges hegemonic discourses about race/ethnicity and is congruent with findings of similar research in other contexts. We used a layered approach toward race/ethnicity instea…
Everyday racism and constructions of racial/ethnic difference in and through football talk
Earlier research has shown how football media use specific racial/ethnic stereotypes, thereby reinforcing certain hierarchies along the lines of race and ethnicity. We use a cultural studies perspective to explore the discourses surrounding race and ethnicity in football among Dutch multiethnic football media audiences when they talk about football. We have interviewed 30 participants in five focus groups to collect our data. Our analysis shows t…
The under-representation and experiences of elite level minority coaches in professional football in England, France and the Netherlands
This article will examine the previously under-researched area of the under-representation and experiences of elite level minority (male) coaches in (men's) professional football in Western Europe. More specifically, the article will draw on original interview data with 40 elite level minority coaches in England, France and the Netherlands and identify a series of key constraining factors which have limited the potential for and realization of op…
Race, ethnicity, and content analysis of the sports media: A critical reflection
Opinions about and attitudes towards the constructs of race and ethnicity in contemporary Western society are not only influenced by institutions such as those of academic institutions, politics, education, family or paid labour, but also by the media. Popular forms of media culture, varying from news broadcasts and talk shows to soap operas and music videos, can be highly influential in structuring ideas about race and ethnicity. Entman contende…
Who Counts as a Migrant Footballer? A Critical Reflection and Alternative Approach to Migrant Football Players on National Teams at the World Cup, 1930–2018
Although there is a common belief that more footballers are representing countries other than their native ones in recent World Cup editions, a historical overview on migrant footballers representing national teams is lacking. To fill this gap, a database consisting of 10,137 football players who participated in the World Cup (1930–2018) was created. To count the number of migrant footballers in national teams over time, we critically reflect on …
Prejudice in the People’s Game: A Content Analysis of Race/Ethnicity in Polish Televised Football
This study explores how televised football in Poland serves as a site for the (re)construction of discourses surrounding race and ethnicity and to what extent this squares with previous studies on sport media conducted mainly in Western countries. In our analysis, we identify the discourses surrounding race and ethnicity that the commentators in televised football draw on and examine how they relate to hegemonic discourses and categorizations in …
National bonding and meanings given to race and ethnicity: Watching the football World Cup on Dutch TV
In this article, the author examines how the FIFA World Cup broadcast on Dutch television informs its viewers around understandings of race/ethnicity and nation. International sport contests may provide a sense of national belonging that overrides other markers of difference such as ‘race’, ethnicity or gender. As such, the football World Cup can be considered a tool for constructing a collective national identity among viewers of various racial …
Representations of race/ethnicity and the nation: A content analysis of televised Polish international football
This study explores the meanings given to race/ethnicity by Polish commentators covering games of the Polish national football team on TV. There will be an explicit focus on how such patterns of representation might intersect with those given to national identities in the context of international football. Our analysis reveals that commentators habitually reproduce the racialized stereotype of the 'natural Black athlete', particularly in the repr…
How do audiences of televised English football construct difference based on race/ethnicity
Our study analyses media audiences of football within the English context. The research question can be formulated as follows: How do young people at a Northern-England university interpret and (re)construct discourses surrounding race/ethnicity in men’s televised football? Results from our focus groups with young football media audiences show how they take a relatively race-conscious perspective in comparison to most earlier studies. At the same…
Exploring Discourses About Race/Ethnicity in a Spanish TV Football Program
The aim of this study was to examine discourses about race/ethnicity in Spanish football commentary, where this type of research is scarce. Previous research in other countries has found that football commentators tend to draw on racial/ethnic stereotypes when commenting on players. This, combined with the large audiences that televised football attracts, may contribute to the (re)production of racialized discourses. In this study, we conducted a…
Everyday practices and the (un)making of ‘Fortress Europe’: Introduction to the special issue
The borders of Europe are erected and guarded through cultural practices as much as through border control and security technologies. Cultural Studies have been crucial in revealing how everyday, particularly media-oriented practices, make and unmake this ‘Fortress’. Yet, until now, the focus has been mostly on how migrants use or are represented through media discourses and technologies. This introduction essay argues that the signifier ‘Fortres…
Meanings given to race/ethnicity in everyday football talk by young adult Polish audiences: A reception study
A wide body of research has focused on representations of race/ethnicity in sport media content, because of its central location in popular culture. These studies found that sport media content serves as a site where hegemonic and reductive discourses surrounding racial/ethnic identities are habitually reproduced. So far, these studies have predominantly been textual analyses. Studies that take into account the polysemic readings of media content…
Sport as a contested racial/ethnic discourse: Processes of racialization in Dutch sport media and sport policy
In this article, we draw on key concepts from cultural studies, post-colonialism, whiteness theory, and sport media studies to search for and discuss shared processes of racialization/ethnization in three sport-related cultural practices – soccer commentary, sport media viewing, and sport policy making. Our analysis reveals how discourses surrounding race/ethnicity in Dutch society are reflected in these sport-related cultural practices and how t…
Expressing rivalry online: Antisemitic rhetoric among Dutch football supporters on Twitter
The aim of this study is to analyse online expressions of rivalry and hate speech in relation to antisemitic and philosemitic discourse(s) in Dutch professional men’s football (soccer). We collected data from Twitter using the Twitter API and scraped Tweets relating to a match between the supposedly ‘Jewish’ club Ajax and its rival Feyenoord on 17 January 2021. A selection of the collected Tweets was analysed more in depth using narrative digital…
Football and the media construction of Iranian national identity during the Fifa World Cup 2018 and AFC Asian Cup 2019
Elite sport success in international tournaments is supposed to play an important role in shaping national identity. In this article, we explore if and how this applies to the Iranian context. The current study made use of a Google alert with the title of ‘Iran Men’s National Football Team’, and a general content analysis of Iranian national and sport media. The analytic focus was on media coverage of the Iranian national football team at the 201…
The diversification of national football teams: Using the idea of migration corridors to explore the underlying structures of nationality changes amongst foreign-born players at the football World Cup
The inclusion of foreign-born sportspeople in national sports teams has become increasingly common. At the same time, the assumed increase in diversity within national football teams has turned into a major subject of (inter)national controversy and debate. This applies, in particular, to the football World Cup, as the assumed increase in foreign-born players in national football teams detracts from the (homogeneous) nation-state basis of the Féd…
Mediated football: Representations and audience receptions of race/ethnicity, gender and nation
Mediated football is one of the most popular global cultural practices. Within this cultural practice, meanings given to race/ethnicity, gender and nation are naturalized often in an implicit and unacknowledged manner. In this article, we build on existing literature to critically examine the often implicit discourses surrounding race/ethnicity, gender and nation in mediated football and to interrogate how these discourses are embedded in wider r…
Theory-Building and Multi-Level Analysis: Further Broadening the Horizon of Communication & Sport
In this brief essay, I will highlight and elaborate on some of the main reflections put forth by Cummins and Hahn in their recently published systematic review of 10 years of academic work in Communication & Sport (2013–2022). In the first part, I will elaborate on some of the shortcomings the authors identify in the use of theory in the sampled articles. In the second section, I will reflect on methodological approaches in the journal, as they a…
Race and whiteness in football talk amongst English fans: Audience receptions of televised national team coverage
Televised football is still one of the main ways in which football fans consume football. Earlier studies into audience receptions of televised football often used focus group interviews with football fans and generally concluded that majority ethnic audiences tend to be engaged in 'football talk' that reproduces already existing racial/ethnic stereotypes and identifications. The current study takes one step further and has explored the consumpti…
From studio to screen: The production processes of Polish televised football and discursive (re)constructions of race/ethnicity
In this study, we shed light on the relationship between the production processes in televised football in Poland and representations of race/ethnicity. Previous research has extensively explored representations of race/ethnicity in mediated sports texts, but there remains a gap in understanding the production processes and their connection to these representations, particularly in contexts beyond the Anglosphere. In order to address this gap, in…
Media and representation of others. Case of Iran in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics
Nowadays, the media plays a key part in representing nations in mega-sporting events. In this study, we aimed to examine how Western English-language news sources represented Iran, as an Eastern and Islamic country, in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. To accomplish this, data were collected using LexisNexis Academic, Google Search, and Google News tools. We utilised topic modelling, a text summarisation technique for data analysis. The analysis generated…
Has the World Cup become more migratory? A comparative history of foreign-born players in national football teams, c. 1930-2018
While the presence of foreign-born footballers in national teams has a long history, it is often believed that the World Cup has become more migratory over time. The presumed increases in the volume and diversity of foreign-born footballers have, however, remained empirically untested. In this article, we empirically test whether the presence of foreign-born footballers at the World Cup has changed over time in respect to these two dimensions of …
Weuro 2017 as catalyst? The narratives of two female pioneers in the Dutch women’s football media complex
2017 was a significant year for women’s football in the Netherlands. The Dutch women’s team won the Women’s European Champions football (WEURO 2017) for the first time in history. The screenings of their matches attracted massive audiences. This article explores the meanings given to gender and sport and the impact of WEURO 2017 by turning to two women pioneers in the field of elite women’s football and the sports media complex. We not only study…
One rotten apple or a rotten tree: Football leaders’ perceptions of racism in European football
Despite efforts by key stakeholders to address racial discrimination in international football, racially charged behaviour persists, particularly in the European context. To explore this phenomenon, our paper employs Critical Race Theory as a central framework and links empirical research to racism and inclusion while keeping institutional football and policy concerns at the forefront of its investigation. Primary questions underlining the study …
Dominant Discourses about Race/Ethnicity and Gender in Sport Practice and Performance
Although it is generally assumed that the (sport) media play an important role in the meanings readers/viewers give to gender and race/ethnicity, relatively little is known about the way 'the public' deals with hegemonic (media) representations about race/ethnicity and gender. The purpose of the present study is to describe the dominant discourses concerning race/ethnicity and gender and sport performance used by white and black Dutch students. W…
Respect: Ethnic bonding and distinction in team sports careers
This paper explores choices and (non)identifications related to race/ethnicity in team sport careers. Two elite sport careers – that of a white basketball player and a black football player – are analysed from a biographical perspective and compared to sport biographies and (changing identifications) of other team sport athletes with varying social backgrounds. We look at personal interpretations and ethnic subtexts in their (sport) socialization…
Race, ethnicity, and content analysis of the sports media: A critical reflection
Opinions about and attitudes towards the constructs of race and ethnicity in contemporary Western society are not only influenced by institutions such as those of academic institutions, politics, education, family or paid labour, but also by the media. Popular forms of media culture, varying from news broadcasts and talk shows to soap operas and music videos, can be highly influential in structuring ideas about race and ethnicity. Entman contende…
Sport as a contested racial/ethnic discourse: Processes of racialization in Dutch sport media and sport policy
In this article, we draw on key concepts from cultural studies, post-colonialism, whiteness theory, and sport media studies to search for and discuss shared processes of racialization/ethnization in three sport-related cultural practices – soccer commentary, sport media viewing, and sport policy making. Our analysis reveals how discourses surrounding race/ethnicity in Dutch society are reflected in these sport-related cultural practices and how t…
Constructing Racial/Ethnic Difference in and Through Dutch Televised Soccer Commentary
The purpose of this study was to expand on current research about ways in which race and ethnicity are socially constructed through popular media culture. In this article we explore to what extent broadcast commentary of televised soccer in the Netherlands reproduces and challenges hegemonic discourses about race/ethnicity and is congruent with findings of similar research in other contexts. We used a layered approach toward race/ethnicity instea…
National bonding and meanings given to race and ethnicity: Watching the football World Cup on Dutch TV
In this article, the author examines how the FIFA World Cup broadcast on Dutch television informs its viewers around understandings of race/ethnicity and nation. International sport contests may provide a sense of national belonging that overrides other markers of difference such as ‘race’, ethnicity or gender. As such, the football World Cup can be considered a tool for constructing a collective national identity among viewers of various racial …
Mediated football: Representations and audience receptions of race/ethnicity, gender and nation
Mediated football is one of the most popular global cultural practices. Within this cultural practice, meanings given to race/ethnicity, gender and nation are naturalized often in an implicit and unacknowledged manner. In this article, we build on existing literature to critically examine the often implicit discourses surrounding race/ethnicity, gender and nation in mediated football and to interrogate how these discourses are embedded in wider r…
Sports Media in Europe
Sport in the media also offers such points of reference for the viewer, especially given its dramatization of events and continuous emphasis on key sportspersons. R. E. Rainville and E. McCormick hypothesized that the race of the (football) players influenced US sports media commentary. Most typically, sports media describe black athletes as “natural” sportsmen with great, “animal-like” physical power. Anti-racism and pro-diversity projects seem …
Who Counts as a Migrant Footballer? A Critical Reflection and Alternative Approach to Migrant Football Players on National Teams at the World Cup, 1930–2018
Although there is a common belief that more footballers are representing countries other than their native ones in recent World Cup editions, a historical overview on migrant footballers representing national teams is lacking. To fill this gap, a database consisting of 10,137 football players who participated in the World Cup (1930–2018) was created. To count the number of migrant footballers in national teams over time, we critically reflect on …
The under-representation and experiences of elite level minority coaches in professional football in England, France and the Netherlands
This article will examine the previously under-researched area of the under-representation and experiences of elite level minority (male) coaches in (men's) professional football in Western Europe. More specifically, the article will draw on original interview data with 40 elite level minority coaches in England, France and the Netherlands and identify a series of key constraining factors which have limited the potential for and realization of op…
Has the World Cup become more migratory? A comparative history of foreign-born players in national football teams, c. 1930-2018
While the presence of foreign-born footballers in national teams has a long history, it is often believed that the World Cup has become more migratory over time. The presumed increases in the volume and diversity of foreign-born footballers have, however, remained empirically untested. In this article, we empirically test whether the presence of foreign-born footballers at the World Cup has changed over time in respect to these two dimensions of …
Four histories about early Dutch football 1910-1920
Weuro 2017 as catalyst? The narratives of two female pioneers in the Dutch women’s football media complex
2017 was a significant year for women’s football in the Netherlands. The Dutch women’s team won the Women’s European Champions football (WEURO 2017) for the first time in history. The screenings of their matches attracted massive audiences. This article explores the meanings given to gender and sport and the impact of WEURO 2017 by turning to two women pioneers in the field of elite women’s football and the sports media complex. We not only study…
Everyday racism and constructions of racial/ethnic difference in and through football talk
Earlier research has shown how football media use specific racial/ethnic stereotypes, thereby reinforcing certain hierarchies along the lines of race and ethnicity. We use a cultural studies perspective to explore the discourses surrounding race and ethnicity in football among Dutch multiethnic football media audiences when they talk about football. We have interviewed 30 participants in five focus groups to collect our data. Our analysis shows t…
Everyday practices and the (un)making of ‘Fortress Europe’: Introduction to the special issue
The borders of Europe are erected and guarded through cultural practices as much as through border control and security technologies. Cultural Studies have been crucial in revealing how everyday, particularly media-oriented practices, make and unmake this ‘Fortress’. Yet, until now, the focus has been mostly on how migrants use or are represented through media discourses and technologies. This introduction essay argues that the signifier ‘Fortres…
Prejudice in the People’s Game: A Content Analysis of Race/Ethnicity in Polish Televised Football
This study explores how televised football in Poland serves as a site for the (re)construction of discourses surrounding race and ethnicity and to what extent this squares with previous studies on sport media conducted mainly in Western countries. In our analysis, we identify the discourses surrounding race and ethnicity that the commentators in televised football draw on and examine how they relate to hegemonic discourses and categorizations in …
Exploring Discourses About Race/Ethnicity in a Spanish TV Football Program
The aim of this study was to examine discourses about race/ethnicity in Spanish football commentary, where this type of research is scarce. Previous research in other countries has found that football commentators tend to draw on racial/ethnic stereotypes when commenting on players. This, combined with the large audiences that televised football attracts, may contribute to the (re)production of racialized discourses. In this study, we conducted a…
Media discourses on ‘race’ and gender
Sport media and the cultural circulation of race/ethnicity: Moving from content analyses to production studies
The racial/ethnic diversity that can be seen in televised football, together with its wide audience, makes it an interesting place to study meanings given to race/ethnicity. Previous research on the content of these discourses has found that televised football in different countries reproduces a variety of racial/ethnic stereotypes. These discourses arguably help to perpetuate and ‘naturalize’ racial/ethnic inequities. In order to better illumina…
How do audiences of televised English football construct difference based on race/ethnicity
Our study analyses media audiences of football within the English context. The research question can be formulated as follows: How do young people at a Northern-England university interpret and (re)construct discourses surrounding race/ethnicity in men’s televised football? Results from our focus groups with young football media audiences show how they take a relatively race-conscious perspective in comparison to most earlier studies. At the same…
Football and the media construction of Iranian national identity during the Fifa World Cup 2018 and AFC Asian Cup 2019
Elite sport success in international tournaments is supposed to play an important role in shaping national identity. In this article, we explore if and how this applies to the Iranian context. The current study made use of a Google alert with the title of ‘Iran Men’s National Football Team’, and a general content analysis of Iranian national and sport media. The analytic focus was on media coverage of the Iranian national football team at the 201…
The diversification of national football teams: Using the idea of migration corridors to explore the underlying structures of nationality changes amongst foreign-born players at the football World Cup
The inclusion of foreign-born sportspeople in national sports teams has become increasingly common. At the same time, the assumed increase in diversity within national football teams has turned into a major subject of (inter)national controversy and debate. This applies, in particular, to the football World Cup, as the assumed increase in foreign-born players in national football teams detracts from the (homogeneous) nation-state basis of the Féd…
Expressing rivalry online: Antisemitic rhetoric among Dutch football supporters on Twitter
The aim of this study is to analyse online expressions of rivalry and hate speech in relation to antisemitic and philosemitic discourse(s) in Dutch professional men’s football (soccer). We collected data from Twitter using the Twitter API and scraped Tweets relating to a match between the supposedly ‘Jewish’ club Ajax and its rival Feyenoord on 17 January 2021. A selection of the collected Tweets was analysed more in depth using narrative digital…
Constructing ‘race/ethnicity’ and nationality in Spanish media: A content analysis of international football coverage
Televised football in Spain enjoys great popularity as it is watched by millions of people every year. It has also been suggested as a site where ideas about race/ethnicity are (re)produced and national football teams have been proposed as key elements in the formation and/or confirmation of national identities. In this qualitative research we analyse the transcripts of 11 televised football matches of the Spanish national team with the goal of u…
Meanings given to race/ethnicity in everyday football talk by young adult Polish audiences: A reception study
A wide body of research has focused on representations of race/ethnicity in sport media content, because of its central location in popular culture. These studies found that sport media content serves as a site where hegemonic and reductive discourses surrounding racial/ethnic identities are habitually reproduced. So far, these studies have predominantly been textual analyses. Studies that take into account the polysemic readings of media content…
Sports, Gender, and Society (35 works) · Political science (34 works) · Sociology (34 works) · Sport and Mega-Event Impacts (32 works) · Gender Studies (28 works) · Law (27 works) · Football (26 works) · Gender Studies (22 works) · Law (20 works) · Ethnic group (19 works)