EUROPEAN IDENTITY POLITICS IN EURO 96

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Abstract
This article analyses the relationships between sport, national identity and the media in the English press during the European Football Championship, EURO 96. Our objective is to highlight some of media representations that surround and underpin sport in general and (association) football in particular in the context of contemporary European politics. This is done primarily through a qualitative discourse analysis of some the English newspaper coverage of EURO 96. In examining the identity politics that were evident during the championships, we will also consider the specifically English position relative to their/its continental European neighbours. More broadly, we want to make the case that, while the concepts of `imagined communities' and `invented traditions' are of considerable help in making sense of identity politics, Elias's examination of the socio-genesis of more deeply sedimented national character and habitus codes also sheds important light on current European identity politics. As such, the article is based on a specific approach to the study of sport and national identity, derived from a process-sociological perspective.

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