Communities of Risk and Cosmopolitanism? A Comparative Study of Football Supporters' Resistance to Processes of Risk and (in)Security

ABSTRACT In the sociology of risk, existing literature commonly highlights the catastrophic nature of ‘risk’. Following Ulrich Beck's theories, however, the (world) risk society also presents opportunities for cosmopolitan risk communities that emerge from shared experiences of risks and threats, whereby social actors mobilize in a response to experiences of risk. Though, a sociological puzzle—which this paper tackles—relates to what these risk communities look like within an empirical setting. By providing a comparative analysis of football supporters resistance to the management of risk and insecurity in Polish and English football, we analyse how football fans respond to the risks associated with the securitization of football and how they form risk communities in this context. As demonstrated, the risks experienced by fans in both countries have cosmopolitan origins (stemming from, e.g., regulations of supranational organizations), even if they are distributed by national agencies. The article concludes with a discussion of the possibility of a cosmopolitan community of risk emerging among fans from different countries and the potential obstacles to its formation and functioning. It advances our understanding of problems encountered within the redefinition of communities in risk societies.