LAUSR

As globalization spreads consumerism and rationalism across the world, there is a corresponding trend towards homogenization and commercialization in culture. As an important element of culture, sport—in particular soccer—is not immune to this trend. The commercialization of soccer has globalized what had hitherto been a national phenomenon, and the integration of local sports into the global economy has changed the way that fans interact with the game all over the world; in short, fans have been transformed into apolitical consumers. Yet the turn to “modern football” has not affected fans in the Middle East in the same manner; on the contrary, sport in the Middle East has been politicized in a way that it hitherto has not been. In Egypt “ultras” played a role in social protest during the so-called Arab Spring, and in Turkey Beşiktaş fans did the same during the 2013 Gezi Park protests. These instances can be interpreted as an appeal to the local, national, and emotional aspects of sport and, in the case of Turkey, the participation of soccer fans in these protests was tied to these collectivist sentiments. The connection between sports and nationalism is well documented and not surprising, as organized sport itself is both a reflection of modernity—with its emphasis on rationalism—and a reaction against modernity, providing a space wherein the free release of emotional energy is permitted. This duality is also reflected by the concept of nationalism; whereas modernist scholars such as Benedict Anderson and Ernest Gellner see nations and nationalism as manifestations of modernity, others such as Anthony Smith view nations and nationalism as a reaction against modernity that appeals to the past. In this latter view they are