‘Underneath the shirt or the scarf is an ordinary person’: risk and democratization in football supporters’ collective action

The globalisation of risk has restructured the roles and interactions between states, corporations and civil society actors. This paper examines how movements and collective action contest risk-based narratives by linking specific issues to wider ideals of democracy, citizenship, human rights and civil liberties. By stretching Beck’s under-developed concepts of risk dramaturgy and democratisation strategies into new settings, this article explores how movements develop frames, arguments and alliances to build public awareness of indifferences to democratic principles. Using three cases of football supporter-based activism in England and Europe, including historical and contemporary campaigns opposing the side-effects of pro-active risk management, the article contributes towards an understanding of how movements strategically fluctuate between specific and wider issues, using ‘personal narratives’ (Beck) to draw attention towards occasionally blurry local/national/global (il)legitimate risk management and indifferences to democratic principles.