Of Football, Anthropology and Transition. Narratives about Violence and Safety in Contemporary Serbia

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to determine the ways in which the culture one lives in is conceptualized through the understanding of modern football. The focus is on the overlapping and negotiation of identity politics determined by the local cultural context, while also taking note of the increasing globalization of the sport itself. Special attention will be given to the discourse on safety, it being one of the key narratives about modern football. By following the media narratives on the topic, especially those concerning the murder of the French supporter Brice Taton in Belgrade in 2009, I will attempt to point out the images which dominate the conceptualization of contemporary domestic football, and through this, the period of transition which Serbia is currently going through.