The uses of dissension: the territoriality of organized supporters as a pretext for public-private interventions in football spaces

Abstract

Organized soccer supporters are still a subject of interest and concern on the part of Brazilian society. The creation of new laws, security forces and stadiums in the 21st century did not make disappear their violent conflicts. The general objective of this article is to investigate how the organized supporters changed their territoriality (Sack, 1986) to adapt to the new disciplinary tools (Foucault, 1979). The organized supporters of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro were chosen as cases as the integration of clubs is more advanced in the face of the globalization of football practices. The reports published by the Juizado Especial do Torcedor and the legal processes registered in the websites Imprensa Oficial and Jusbrasil were used as databases. The working hypothesis is that the most violent forms of territoriality of the organized supporters were displaced in the city. Instead of football-related serious injuries and homicides taking place inside the stadiums or in the area close to the sporting event, new security forces and equipment are taking place in other parts of the city, especially in the transport hubs. The confirmation of this hypothesis is not yet possible due to the small systematization of data. However, this tendency is presented in the speeches made both by the representatives of the organized supporters and by the spokespersons of the police forces.