Get your knits out for the lads: Are the ultras the new craftivists?

Bachelor Thesis from the year 2014 in the subject Art - Arts and Crafts, grade: 82%, course: BA (Hons) Glass, language: English, abstract: This dissertation proposes that groups of particularly passionate football fans are a form of craft community. The ‘ultras’ create extravagant displays which enhance their performances during football matches. Much attention has been paid to hooliganism and football violence, but very little has been written about the positive and creative aspects of football fandom. This paper asks if the ultras are a community of practice. They are compared with the ‘craftivists’, and the notion of ‘home’ is discussed within the context of football and the re-evaluation of private spaces. The political nature of the ultras is considered and the concept of ‘the political’ is addressed, with reference to Chantal Mouffe’s insights into the failure of politics to embrace the political and the importance of antagonism in political discourse. The performative nature of the ultras raises the question whether this can be considered artistic practice, in the light of Grant Kestor’s discussion of ‘dialogical aesthetics’ and the role of dialogue-based artistic interventions. The conclusions drawn from this study suggest that the ultras are a community of practice through expressing a shared repertoire and through the organisation of public events. The artistic practices of the ultras are evident but difficult to define. The manner in which the ultras support their club and the criticisms they direct towards the authorities contradict their apolitical position; Kestor’s dialogical aesthetics, particularly the role of empathy, could be used to heal the rift between the ultras and the football associations.