Vic Duke

The Sociology of Football: A Research Agenda for the 1990s

The paper emphasizes the need for an alternative sociology of football that goes beyond the issue of football hooliganism, which has dominated work in the field. In the light of the Taylor Report and the agenda of modernization of football in the 1990s, research into the football crowd as a whole is required. A positive view of the state of English football in 1990 is presented as a corrective to the negative image of the 1980s. The debate is set in the context of my previous work on the politics of football both in Britain and the new Europe – West and East. In the final section, several topics are placed on the research agenda for the sociology of football in the 1990s. These are the modernization of facilities, the study of fanzines, comparative research and a social demography of the football crowd.

The Operationalisation of Class in British Sociology: Theoretical and Empirical Considerations

This research note is a contribution to an important on-going debate in British sociology on the operationalisation of class. A comprehensive framework is proposed based on three interrelated choices. All three choices have both theoretical and empirical elements. First, researchers must choose which conceptual scheme to employ conventional occupational class or neo-Marxist social class categories. Second, what is to be the unit of analysis the respondent or the household? Third, what is to be the degree of coverage? whether or not to include the economically inactive. Consideration of all three choices is followed by a discussion of their interrelations and consequences. We suggest an extended version of Eriksons solution which incorporates not only the unit of analysis decision but also the degree of coverage decision. Thus a respondent based measure covering the economically active only is appropriate for studies of production behaviour and attitudes (work position). Alternatively, a household based measure inclusive of the economically inactive is appropriate for studies of consumption behaviour and attitudes (market or class position). Acceptance of the extended Erikson solution leaves only the choice of conceptual scheme. Our indicated preference is for social class on both theoretical and empirical grounds. Finally, we recommend several ways of improving the quality of datasets with regard to the problem of operationalising class. During recent years a lively and important debate has developed in British sociology concerning the operationalisation of class, arguably the most central concept in the discipline. So far the debate has fragmented theoretical considerations and the empirical appraisal of them. Thus neo-Marxists have revived the issue of social versus occupational class and feminists have stimulated discussion of the Thc British Journal of Sociology Volumc XXXVIII Number 4 This content downloaded from 207.46.13.128 on Tue, 06 Sep 2016 06:14:46 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 446 Vic Duke and Stephen Edgell unit of class analysis. In addition, contributions to both these and related issues have tended to ignore each other at the empirical level. As part of a wider research project concerned with changes in the social and political effects of the public expenditure cuts in Britain (Edgell and Duke 1981 and 1985), we have considered the relative advantages and disadvantages of various ways of operationalising class. Qur investigations to date suggest that in order to operationalise class, researchers need to make three interrelated fundamental choices. At the theoretical level each choice involves both conceptual and technical considerations (see Figure I). The first choice is which conceptual scheme (and, by implication, theoretical framework) to employ, i.e. conventional occupational class or neo-Marxist social class. The second and third choices concern to whom the class categories should be applied. This entails two linked but distinct decisions: (a) should the unit of class anaysis be the respondent/individual or the household/family?; and (b) what is to be the degree of coverage of the population? In other words, should the classification be based solely upon the economically active respondents/household members or on all adult respondents/ household members? Each of these three key choices will be considered separately and in terms of their interrelationships. The purpose of this research note is to provide a comprehensive and integrated account of all the issues that are relevant to both theoretical and empirical levels of analysis. Inevitably the choices prove to be not as simply dichotomous as they have appeared in the ongoing debate of the operationalisation of class in British sociology. I THE CONCEPTUAL SCHEME: OCCUPATIONAL CLASS VERSUS SOCIAL

Football Spectator Behaviour in Argentina: A Case of Separate Evolution:

There has been a separate and distinctive evolution of football related violence in Argentina. Fighting between rival gangs of fans in Argentina developed independently and considerably in advance of the modern phenomenon of football hooliganism in Britain. This case is argued using Argentine sources not previously translated into English. The distinctive features of Argentine football violence are described and the main differences in relation to England are outlined. Of paramount importance are the explicit political links of Argentine football clubs. Organised football preceeded democratic politics in Argentina which resulted in the new political parties utilising the football infrastructure of neighbourhood-based clubs. The death rate associated with Argentine football is significantly higher than in England, and the role of the police is more negative in Argentina. In the conclusion a framework is proposed for the comparative and historical analysis of football related violence.

Perestroika in Progress?: The Case of Spectator Sports in Czechoslovakia

The progress of perestroika has been uneven both within the Soviet Union and in Eastern Europe. Czechoslovakia is one of the least supportive of the socialist republics of Eastern Europe with respect to perestroika. Perestroika is characterised as embracing economic, political and social changes. This article examines recent changes in the organisation of the major Czechoslovak spectator sports. The professionalisation of players and the commercialisation of sponsorship in both football and ice hockey are in the direction indicated by perestroika. However, these changes remain within strict politically defined limits. Officials tend to justify the developments in terms of perestroika but many of the changes would have happened anyway in response to strong pressure for reform. None the less, now that they are underway, the changes in the spectator sports may constitute the first step towards a wider perestroika in the Czechoslovak economy and society.

Radicalism, Radicalization and Recession: Britain in the 1980s

Government policy in response to the recession in Britain during the 1980s can be interpreted as an attempt to alter the balance of class forces in favour of capital or as an attempt to alter the balance of public and private sector production and consumption in favour of the latter. The limitations of previous research on radicalism and radicalization are reviewed and on the basis of a purposefully designed panel survey, class and sector theories are examined in terms of both attitudinal and behavioural data. The importance of distinguishing between the structure of radicalism and the process of radicalization was highlighted by the finding that the variables which explain the former are not the same as those that explain the latter. The basic class and sector models were confirmed: employees and public sector producers/consumers were found to be more radical than employers and private sector producers/consumers respectively. Most support for dominant values was evident among the capitalist class and public sector controllers emerged as the new vanguard of radicalism. Finally the persistence of a radical value system in contemporary Britain remains clearly associated with

Urban Cleavages in the Emerging Democracies of Eastern Europe

This chapter presents the theoretical framework for an examination of new urban cleavages in the emerging democracies of Eastern Europe. The sectoral-cleavage hypothesis is part of a wider research project into the social and spatial consequences of privatization in Prague and Budapest. The project will be undertaken with the assistance of a team of Czech and Hungarian sociologists and geographers.1