Rethinking sectarianism: a qualitative exploration of the meanings and experiences of football supporters in the West of Scotland

McBride, Maureen (2018) Rethinking sectarianism: a qualitative exploration of the meanings and experiences of football supporters in the West of Scotland. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

This thesis investigates how football supporters in the West of Scotland craft meaning from their everyday lives around questions of sectarianism, nationalism, and related social issues, through the lens of their football-supporting experience. The thesis seeks to ‘rethink’ sectarianism, challenging discourses which simplify or construct it as a historical phenomenon, by developing a deeper, empirically-informed understanding of its enduring impact on people’s lives. The thesis was written in the context of significant social and political change for Scotland. The fragmentation of traditional political structures and the ‘constitutional question’ have reopened key fault lines around religion and competing nationalisms, and these political shifts continue to have a profound effect on socio-cultural life and identities. New hierarchies of belonging and exclusion, built on previous ones, are emerging in contemporary Scotland, and the thesis contends that analysis of sectarianism must be analysed within this context. The thesis challenges dominant understandings of sectarianism, and the undertheorisation of the topic, by combining a qualitative approach, which is attentive to lived experiences and meaning-making, with historical-sociological analysis which is sensitive to structural and political factors.

• Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
• Qualification Level: Doctoral
• Additional Information: Due to confidentiality issues this thesis is not available for viewing.
• Keywords: sectarianism, racialization, class, football, nationalism.
• Subjects: H Social Sciences > HM Sociology
• Colleges/Schools: College of Social Sciences > School of Social and Political Sciences > Sociology Anthropology and Applied Social Sciences
• Funder's Name: Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)
• Supervisor's Name: Batchelor, Dr. Susan and Virdee, Prof. Satnam
• Date of Award: 2018
• Depositing User: Dr Maureen McBride
• Unique ID: glathesis:2018-30995
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 01 Nov 2018 14:57
• Last Modified: 19 Apr 2024 10:52
• Thesis DOI: 10.5525/gla.thesis.30995
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/30995