Playing with difference: football as a performative space for division among Suryoye migrants in Sweden

Abstract

This article looks at football as a vehicle for identity formation among Suryoye, a Christian, Middle Eastern migrant community in Sweden. Two Suryoye second division football clubs from the small town of Södertälje – Syrianska FC and Assyriska FF – constitute the core of the analysis, which is based on fieldwork among fans from both clubs. The two clubs mirror an ongoing identity conflict within the Suryoye community between those who call themselves ‘Assyrians’ and those who prefer ‘Syriacs’ as their collective identity. Theoretically, dominant conceptions within football studies of football and fandom as ‘liminal spectacles’ are challenged, and a Butlerian notion of identity as constituted of repetitive performativities is instead adopted. In the ethnographic discussion, Suryoyo football is conceptualized as a ‘performative space’ that facilitates utterances and practices that divide Suryoye into Assyrians and Syriacs. A variety of aspects of football as such a performative space is explored, and it is argued that dividing performatives come in many different forms: from complex narrations of ancient historical narratives on the terraces to unconscious, highly mundane practices and utterances. Finally, some examples are also given for how and why it is important for the two sides to shape the space of football in a suitable manner. Because, by struggling to allow some football related actions and prohibiting other, Assyrians and Syriacs constantly negotiate what one can do and say at and around the terraces in Södertälje, and in effect what it means to be Suryoye in Sweden today.