Imagining Democracy

Abstract

Abstract At FC Union Berlin, ultras’ democratic ideals and populist logics of community organization came into conflict with the financial prerogatives of the unelected representatives of the German Football Association (DFB), which reveals governance as incompatible with the fans’ claims to collective determination. Because the fans have no role in electing officials to the DFB, the football governing body’s monopoly of power over league rules and policies violated the ultras’ populist ethos of football as Volkssport (The People’s Game). Separated entirely from DFB policymaking, collective organization and decision-making were integral tenets of hardcore fandom at FC Union. Unlike the DFB’s policies and vision of fandom, crowd performativity and atmosphere in the stadium enacted Volkssport because it was perceived as a democratic form of assembly and collective action.