São Paulo urbanization process and the consolidation of football: A transnational studie prospect

• Grant number: 24/20601-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: April 01, 2025
• End date: July 31, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Geography - Human Geography
• Principal Investigator: Carlos de Almeida Toledo
• Grantee: João Ryoki Gutierrez Inoue
• Supervisor: Matthew David Brown
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: University of Bristol, England
• Associated to the scholarship: 24/05128-0 - The Prohibition of Violence: The Violent Prohibition of Ultras, a study towards the relation of the State to Gaviões da Fiel during the 1990 decade on the Prohibition Era, BP.IC

Abstract

The current scientific initiation research investigates the relationship between State violence and organized fan groups (torcidas organizadas/TOs) starting in 1990. The relationship between these two actors, TOs and the State, will be analyzed through the Gaviões da Fiel Torcida Força Independente (GDF). Seeking to understand the relational issue between these actors, we adopt the concept of territoriality by Raffestin (1993), based on the understanding that both the State and Gaviões da Fiel are syntagmatic actors. However, we recognize that Raffestin (1993) views this relationship as a moment. Therefore, we are interested in understanding the formation of these actors within a process, and we align this method with authors who focus on the categorical formations essential to understanding the problem. Based on Odette Seabra's research (2003; 2008) on the dissolution of neighborhood life and the imposition of abstract time, we see an opportunity to delve deeper into the study of football through the transformation of neighborhood fan groups into TOs. Alongside Seabra, Gaudemar's (1977) propositions on labor mobility and the disciplining of workers for work are crucial to understanding the transformation of these practices in light of the urbanization process. Additionally, we incorporate Brown's (2015; 2018) research on the consolidation of football in the city of São Paulo as part of this process. We believe these studies are important as they place the syntagmatic actors (Sport Club Corinthians Paulista and other football associations), once secondary, at the center of the process. Moreover, we understand the need for a transnational study on football since English literature on the subject is not as prevalent in our daily research.