Football supporterism in Tunisia: facilitating participatory democracy through citizen education

Abstract

ABSTRACT After the Arab Spring (early 2010's), the relationship between football supporterism and politics has been the subject of much debate. We attempted to describe, understand, and explain the modes of interaction between supporterism in post-revolution Tunisia, the ultras supporters’ (i) involvement in their club’_ affairs, and (ii) participation in the political life of the country. The case studied is that of ultras supporters of the Tunisian football team ”Club Africain” (CA). We opted for a constructivist-grounded methodology, using semi-structured interviews with 10 CA fans and 10 fans of the rival team from the same city (Tunis), Espérance Sportive de Tunis (EST), who represented the control group. A conceptual diagram was constructed to visualize the relationships between the items collected and the emerging theoretical dimensions. The results indicate an inclusive and autonomous commitment based on universal values. This persuasion experiment revealed a dynamic and creative model that led to positive changes in attitudes within the club and in the country's political life. During the club's crisis, this mobilisation led to the development of solidarity, mutual aid, and meaningful actions. As a result, it encouraged real involvement in the country's political events. The research model constructed visualizes a voluntary and autonomous educational process involving political participation that helps to regulate the country's democratic process. The study proposed pro-social alternatives, highlighting young people's spontaneous learning to participate in a dynamic and reflective political process. The results of the study should be verified with other types of supporters and in other Arab Spring countries.