Jonas Biel

Using survey data from 🇩🇪 🇳🇴 🇵🇱 🇪🇸, the paper explores how football fandom promotes trans-European communication and travel, thus contributing to (the prerequisites of) social cohesion across the continent. In doing so, fandom reproduces rather than alleviates (some) underlying structural inequalities.

Football Fandom and European Practices of Social Cohesion: How Football Fandom Shapes and Structures Cross-Border Communication and Travel in Europe - International Journal of the Sociology of Leisure This paper investigates how football fandom as a highly popular and socially diverse leisure activity contributes to practices of social cohesion within Europe and interacts with underlying socio-demo...

Happy to share that my first solo-authored article has just been published in the International Journal of the Sociology of Leisure!
link.springer.com/article/10.1...

As our results show, football is more than just a game - It’s a powerful catalyst for exchanges, cooperation, identity formation, and social cohesion in Europe. Our two policy papers provide concrete, research-based recommendations to harness this unifying potential of football.

How does football fandom shape European identity and social cohesion? Our research explores these questions using surveys, media analysis, and interviews.
Find a few of our recent papers below:

This account represents two research projects exploring the connections between football fandom and European identity. We previously shared our work on Twitter/X, but from now on, you'll find us here. Follow for insights on how football shapes social cohesion and shared identities in Europe. ⚽🇪🇺