Contesting Love Through Commodification: Soccer Fans, Affect, and Social Class in Turkey [2-s2.0-85150094001]

Abstract

In the chapter, Football Fans, Affect, and Social Class in Turkey, Yağmur Nuhrat discusses football in Turkey, adding a social structural perspective to the common expression “love of football.” While Friedman studies the experiences and manifestations of love during the game, Nuhrat examines the intersection of (1) the increasing commodification in Turkey, (2) the law that promises to “clean up” fandom, and (3) differing expressions of love along class lines following this clean-up. The cleaned-up version of football serves to secure class distinction for upper middle class fans, whereas it evokes resistance among less affluent and working-class fans. Her research reveals how the class conflict in Turkey created by the new law and how rising commodification are evaluated by the fans through contestations over what it means to be an “authentic fan” and especially over the quality of one’s love for the team. True love is defined and experienced differently by members of the two groups, with working class fans often describing their love as maddening or self-sacrificing. In the context of increasing political repression, their resistance to commodification is discursively entangled with love and violence. By contrast, members of the upper class and the administration express their love by consuming paraphernalia related to the club. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020.