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" A sociological investigation into football fandom as consumption in the age of liquid modernity "
Dixon, Kevin
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Latin Dissertation
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| Record Number
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895088
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TLets809332
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| Main Entry
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Staffordshire University
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| Title & Author
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A sociological investigation into football fandom as consumption in the age of liquid modernity\ Dixon, Kevin
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| College
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Staffordshire University
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| Date
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2011
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| Degree
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Thesis (Ph.D.)
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2011
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| Abstract
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The aim of this thesis is to explore and explain the phenomenon of football fandom as consumption in liquid modern life. By centralizing fandom within the sociology of consumption, the work contends that football fandom equates to a fluid series of routine consumption activities that are practiced in the course of everyday life. Thus, departing from sociological studies that feature exceptional forms of fandom i.e. relating to hooliganism, racism, and obsession - this work focuses on regular consumption practice in order to emphasize the position that seemingly trivial procedures can have a profound influence on the construction, maintenance and evolution of football fandom cultures. Furthermore it contends that football fandom is an organic, liquid-like phenomenon that is slowly moving boundaries of authenticity based on the reflexivity of practicing agents as they participate in and respond to the demands of consumer life. Empirically, the work involves an investigation of participant narratives that are used to rethink theories of football fandom beyond normative explanation and associated, rigid theoretical dichotomies. Interviews (N=56) with a purposive cohort of football fans that responded to a media call for volunteers in 2008 provide the sample for this thesis and results are analyzed using the method of thematic discourse analysis. A thorough investigation of the range of experiences expressed by participants reveals valuable insights into the ways in which agents consume goods, services, performances, and information - for utilitarian, expressive, or contemplative purposes and demonstrates how such actions contribute to the maintenance and evolution of football fandom cultures. The theoretical foundations supporting this thesis are based on the work of an interdisciplinary mix of scholars that theorize at both the micro and macro levels of practice.
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Staffordshire University
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