The dissertation file is not currently available for this title.

Abstract

Primarily, this dissertation focuses on the importance and perceptions of nationhood for young adult, England fans. To investigate, it centralises the Russia World Cup as a lens, allowing participants to discuss their perceptive communal experiences and the potential relationship in respect to nationhood, race and the Brexit campaign. By placing the World Cup at the centre of investigation, rather than the surrounding issues, it allows participants to explain their perceptions of the World Cup whilst also, potentially referring to aspects of their nationhood, race and thoughts towards Brexit.
Overall, participants suggest a clear motivation to be involved in the communal experience of the World Cup. However, the nationalist extent is ambiguous, with no participants discussing their nationhood until probed during question 9 (Appendix D), which supports Fenton’s research suggesting young adults may demonstrate a ‘clear lack of enthusiasm for ‘Englishness or Britishness’ (Fenton, 2007, 336). However, after further interview analysis, language choices suggest a sense of ‘banal nationalism’ (Billig, 1995) as participants demonstrate a presumed or ‘taken-for-granted’ notion of nationalism throughout. Additionally, participants demonstrate how the World Cup emphasises a wider sense of transnationalism, as various members of nation-states are becoming increasingly interconnected with one another through sport. Finally, this research demonstrates the importance of nationalism through the perceptive divide between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ nationalists’ views on immigration and the Brexit campaign.
Three male and three female University of Portsmouth students took part in semi-structured interviews. A criterion was used; ensuring all participants had watched England’s knockout games against Colombia, Sweden and Croatia. This ensured a foundation of knowledge encouraging participants to explore their perceptions of the atmosphere in relation to feelings towards nationhood, race and Brexit. All interviews were transcribed and thematically analysed to gather theories and concepts surrounding the topic, as briefly described above.

Course: Sociology - BSc (Hons) - C0315

Date Deposited: 2020-10-13

URI/permalink: https://library.port.ac.uk/dissert/dis13569.html