Football, socialization, and mass psychology: rites, symbols, and violence in the streets of Goiania

Abstract

This article aims at establishing a comparative analysis between the etnographic components found in the social practice of Torcida Esquadrão Vila-novense (a supporter association of Vila Nova football team) and the theoretical references found in Brazilian studies of supporter’s associations. The goal is to answer the following question: What does it mean for Vila Nova supporters to join “Torcida Esquadrão Vila-novense”? The research corpus was narrowed down to the social practices that were produced while supporters were being escorted by the military police during match days in which Vila Nova played Goiás Esporte Clube, along the 2006 state championship. Newspaper articles produced by Diário On-Line and O popular newspapers were also analised. KEYWORDS: football – socialization – Goiânia