Biography:

David Westby is a doctoral student in the department of Political Science at the University of Chicago. He received his BA from Tufts University in 2017 and his MA from the University of Chicago in 2020. 

His research interests include nationalism, populism, the intersection of sport and politics, and critical theory. Previous work includes research on radical Spanish soccer fans, called ultras, and an MA thesis on when nationalist parties become independentist. 

Project Title: Ultras and Populism

Abstract:

The recent success of extremist populist politicians has prompted concern about democratic backsliding. Trump, Bolsonaro, Erdoğan, Le Pen, Bukele, and more have tapped into widespread frustrations with modern politics. These extremist populist politicians mobilized already robust yet invisible groups of people that were primed for an anti-system message. But how were they primed? 

Existing literature suggests citizens are dissatisfied with institutional politics in liberal democracies. But little scholarship has focused on where and how such grievances are shaped into populist sentiment. I argue that the priming for populist messaging has for years been happening outside of mainstream political spaces, for example in the punk music scene, online video game communities, and churches. 

I propose to study an undertheorized space to illustrate how communities with extremist ideologies are formed in alternative social contexts. Soccer has a unique form of fandom called ultraism in which young men are mobilized by organized fan groups. Activities include coordinated visual displays and chants, travel to away games, social gatherings, and fights. Critically, ultra groups imbricate intense fandom with radical politics, cultivating extreme populist attitudes in young men searching for a north star.