SPORTIVE NATIONALISM AND NATIONALIST POLITICS: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF SCOTLAND, THE REPUBLIC OF IRELAND, AND SWEDEN

Abstract

The close relationship between nationalism and sport is an acknowledged fact. Numerous questions can be asked, however, about the precise nature of links between sportive nationalism and nationalist politics. The examples of Scotland, the Republic of Ireland, and Sweden suggest that these links are by no means straightforward. Indeed, these case studies describe very different types of relationships between sport and nationalism, depending on the role of nationalism itself in each context. In general, however, sportive nationalism, as opposed to political nationalism hiding behind sport, operates most successfully in societies where the issue of nationality is relatively uncontentious.