Abstract

LOPES, Felipe Tavares Paes  and  CORDEIRO, Mariana Prioli. Football, crowd and power: reflexions on the "contagion theory". Rev. psicol. polít. [online]. 2015, vol.15, n.34, pp. 479-495. ISSN 1519-549X.

In this article, we discussed the limits of Le Bon's theory of crowd behavior as scientific analysis tool of violence in football. Among other things, we indicated that such violence presupposes certain rationality, not the lack of it. We also discussed some of the possible political and ideological effects of that theory, such as the denial of guilt of the supporters and security officers involved in violent actions, the denial of the voice of the mass of supporters and the legitimacy of police repression and social control. Besides, we defended the relevance of assume a different crowd behavior perspective that consider its positive aspects, such as the ability to produce strategies of resistance to the so-called "modern football".

Keywords : Football; Mass; Power; Violence; Le Bon.

        · abstract in Portuguese | Spanish | French     · text in Portuguese     · Portuguese ( pdf )