Football, diaspora, and Turkish Cypriot identity in London

İnal R., Bairner A.

SPORT IN SOCIETY, cilt.28, sa.1, ss.142-160, 2024 (SSCI, Scopus)

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 28 Sayı: 1
  • Basım Tarihi: 2024
  • Doi Numarası: 10.1080/17430437.2024.2344783
  • Dergi Adı: SPORT IN SOCIETY
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: SportDiscus, Scopus, Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), CAB Abstracts, Political Science Complete, Social services abstracts, Sociological abstracts, Veterinary Science Database, Worldwide Political Science Abstracts
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.142-160
  • Erzincan Binali Yıldırım Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

This study aims to understand and explain the impact of football on both diaspora formation and the construction/reproduction of ­ethno-national identities, focusing on constructionist practices in this process. In this context, an ethnographic field study was conducted for six months in an amateur football league established by Turkish Cypriots in London, England. The theoretical framework is modelled on the concept of diaspora proposed by Rogers Brubaker. The study shows that it is possible for a dispersed population to come together in diaspora through football. However, the process is not spontaneous but takes place through the active role of core members. Secondly, the paper provides evidence that football-centred practices of ethno-national identity construction are actively reproduced in a diaspora-specific context through ‘core members’.