Forschungsstelle Osteuropa Bremen
Search
Manfred Zeller

Sport and Society in the Soviet Union: The Politics of Football after Stalin 

I.B. Tauris 2018,  ISBN 978-5-8243-2244-6 

Following Stalin's death in 1953, association football clubs, as well as the informal supporter groups and communities which developed around them, were an important way for the diverse citizens of the multinational Soviet Union to express, negotiate and develop their identities, both on individual and collective levels. Manfred Zeller draws on extensive original research in Russian and Ukrainian archives, as well as interviews with spectators, 'hardcore ultras' and hooligans from the Caucasus to Central Asia, to shed new light onto this phenomenon covering the period from the height of Stalin's terror (the 1930s) to the Soviet Union's collapse (1991). Across events as diverse as the Soviet Union's footballing triumph over the German world champions in 1955 and the Luzhniki stadium disaster in 1982, Zeller explores the ways in which people, against the backdrop of totalitarianism, articulated feelings of alienation and fostered a sense of community through sport. In the process, he provides a unique 'bottom-up' reappraisal of Soviet history, culture and politics, as seen through the eyes of supporters and spectators.

This is an important contribution to research on Soviet culture after Stalin, the history of sport and contemporary debates on antagonism in the post-Soviet world.

  • Home
  • About us
  • Staff
  • Research
  • Science Communication
  • Publications
  • Books
  • Journal Articles
  • Working Papers 1991-2011
  • Jobs
  • Sponsors & Partners
  • Archive & Library
  • Contact
  • Online Catalogue Archives
  • Online Catalogue Library
Country Analytical Digests

» Eastern Europe - Analytical Digests (free subscription + online archive)

 

Discuss Data

Archiving, sharing and discussing research data on Eastern Europe, South Caucasus and Central Asia

 

online specials on

» Russian street art against war

» Duma debates (in Russian)

» Putin's speeches

» Protest in Russia

» Annexation of Crimea