"Rädda svensk fotboll!" : En kritisk diskursanalys av (re-)produktionen av kollektiv identitet i motståndet gentemot Villkorstrappan från den svenska fotbollssupporterrörelsen

Sammanfattning: This paper seeks to unravel the existing discourses within the Swedish football supporter movement, and their criticism towards the Swedish police authority and the implementation of a new strategy known as"Villkorstrappan". The strategy faced heavy criticism from the supporters’ clubs, calling it counterproductive and harmful. The Swedish football supporters’ union soon launched an initiative called "Rädda svensk fotboll!". Almost every supporters’ club affiliated with football clubs in the Swedish top flight, joined the initiative leading to nationwide protests both online, and in the stadiums. The theoretical framework consists of Norman Fairclough's three-dimensional model of CDA. In addition the paper seeks to examine the creation of collective identity in the movement, this by using Melucci's theory and Burke's rhetorical identification theory. The research material has consisted of texts produced by Swedish supporters’ clubs and of pictures of message-banners presented in the stands during games. The results revealed three main discourses within the supporters’ movement and the criticism towards Villkorstrappan: “The police is a threat towards Swedish football”; "Football as democratic, and belonging to the people''; and “The importance of the supporterculture”. Regarding collective identity, various findings indicated an increasing unity within the Swedish football supporter movement, when uniting against a common enemy. Overall the results emphasize the importance of the swedish football supporters’movement, as a democratic actor, as a social movement and as crucial to swedish football in general.