When it comes to football and its relationship with the society, Turkey is a unique case. Known as a football-passionate nation comparable to Brazil, Turkey has enjoyed important successes in the world arena, such the third place in the 2002 World Cup, the semi-final in Euro 2008, and Galatasaray’s UEFA Cup and Super Cup victories in 2000.
On the other hand, as the country itself, the football world in Turkey presents complex peculiarities that are very difficult to understand for neutral observers. Born into the final years of the Ottoman Empire, football not only witnessed the birth of a new, modern nation-state, from day one, it became a vital part of Turkish modernism, along with other key concepts such as nationalism or secularism. Football also portrays an accurate picture of how the centre-periphery relationship plays a role within society, since the vast majority of football fans in Turkey support three Istanbulite teams, which function as “micro-nations” with around twenty millions of fans each, in the country and among Turkey’s diaspora communities. Football has also become a battlefield for political, social and cultural divisions, which makes the case of Turkey even more appealing for football scholars.
On April 28, CEVIPOL at Université Libre de Bruxelles and the Centre for Participatory Culture at the University of Huddersfield organise an online conference to discuss this unique football country through different aspects that concern social sciences and invite submissions, on subjects including (but not limited to) below:
-
-
- Football and politics in Turkey
- Football fandom in Turkey
- Cultural aspects of football
- Minority issues in football
- Gender and LGBTI+ issues in football
- Disabilities and football
- Immigration and football
- Economics of football
- Football and diplomacy
-
Please send an abstract of no more than 250 words along with a short biographical statement by March 26, 2021 to footballinturkey2021@gmail.com with the subject header “Football in Turkey 2021” .
