Dino Numerato | Charles University, Prague (original) (raw)
Dino Numerato is an Associate Professor at the Department of Sociology at the Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic (FSV UK). He is currently a Co-Principal Investigator of the National Institute for Research on Socioeconomic Impacts of Diseases and Systemic Risks (SYRI - https://www.syri.institute). Within the research institute, he leads the Research Group on Communication, Risk and Uncertainty. Moreover, he is a Deputy Director for Research at the Institute of Sociological Studies (FSV UK). Since 2024, he has been the Coordinator of the European Sociological Association Research Network 16 Sociology of Health and Medicine.
He has recently concluded the EC H2020 VAX-Trust project (https://vax-trust.eu) focused on vaccine hesitancy. From 2016 to 2019, he was Head of the Department of Sociology at FSV UK. From October 2013 to November 2015, he worked as a Marie Curie Research Fellow and as a Research Associate at the School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences (SSEHS), Loughborough University (UK). He was previously, from February 2006 until September 2013, Research Fellow at Bocconi University (Milan, Italy). He has also acted as a Guest Lecturer at Masaryk University (Brno, Czech Republic) and as a Visiting Professor at the University of West Bohemia (Pilsen, Czech Republic).
Dino Numerato completed his MA and PhD studies in Sociology at the Faculty of Social Studies at Masaryk University. During his doctoral studies, he also spent one year (2004-2005) at the University La Sapienza (Rome, Italy), having been awarded a Marie Curie Early-Career Research Fellowship within the framework of the EuroPhD in Social Representations and Communication.
Dino Numerato’s principal research interests include the sociology of health and illness and the sociology of sport. Dino Numerato undertook research in the UK, Italy, and the Czech Republic and he was involved in several comparative research projects at a European level.
As regards the research in the field of health, Dino Numerato focused on the sociology of healthcare professions, vaccination, and patient and public involvement. For a limited period of time, he also participated in research projects focused on health policy, epidemiology, and health economics.
When it comes to the sociology of sport, the main research areas include football fandom and activism, social theory, sport governance, and sport policy, mass media and sport, corruption and match-fixing. Between October 2013 and October 2015, he worked with Richard Giulianotti on the EC Marie Curie project entitled "Football Fandom, Reflexivity and Social Change" (FANSREF). From 2006 to 2008, he was a member of the EC FP6-funded Marie Curie Excellence Team in the project titled: "Sport and Social Capital in the EU".
In addition to his research interest in the areas of the sociology of health and illness and the sociology of sport, Dino Numerato has continuously developed his interests in social theory, by exploring the nexus between late modern reflexivity and social change. He also carried out research in the field of migration and labour market integration (H2020 SIRIUS project - https://www.sirius-project.eu/). As part of this research, he also deepened his interest in civic engagement and activism, analysed across several social domains and including healthcare, sport, migration, as well as the mass and social media.
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Book by Dino Numerato
The study of football fandom is a fast-growing area of research in the sociology of sport. The fi... more The study of football fandom is a fast-growing area of research in the sociology of sport. The first work of its kind, this book explores football fan activism and its impact on contemporary football culture in England, Italy and the Czech Republic.
Presenting a comparative study of fan activism in national and transnational contexts, it explores the characteristics of each country’s football fan culture as well as the varying and at times volatile dynamics between fans, authorities and the mass media. Its chapters address key themes and issues including: fans’ reactions to policing and security measures in football stadiums; the socio-cultural significance of symbols and rituals for fans at football games; and fans’ critical engagement with football club ownership and management. Offering original insights into the power of fan activism to influence social change, this book has wider implications for understanding social movements in other cultural and political spheres beyond Europe.
Papers by Dino Numerato
This paper focuses on the omnipresent yet analytically almost invisible role of memory and bodily... more This paper focuses on the omnipresent yet analytically almost invisible role of memory and bodily experiences in childhood vaccination. Previous scholarship on the sociocultural aspects of vaccination has primarily focused on the individual and sociodemographic factors underpinning vaccine hesitancy, the role of healthcare professionals and the politicisation or mediatisation of vaccination. Social practices considering vaccination were primarily explored as a matter of the present. Only little consideration was given to the past, individual biographies and sociohistorical temporalities. To complement this body of work, we focus on cognitively-based, embodied and emotionally-experienced memory related to vaccination. Based on a qualitative study of childhood vaccination conducted in Czechia between 2017 and 2019 consisting of ethnographic observations, in-depth interviews and a document review, we identified three interconnected forms of vaccination memory: bio-immune, social-collective and lived experience. Bio-immune memory refers to the body’s physical memory, gained to protect itself from diseases. Social-collective memory focuses on socially shared narratives about diseases and vaccination in the past. The memory of lived experience refers to feelings, embodied knowledge and pain. Our findings may inspire further analysis of childhood vaccination in other geographical contexts and amidst the reconfiguration of attitudes and newly established memories following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Rassegna Italiana di Sociologia, 2023
This paper focuses on the methodological conundrum of doing quick team ethnography in complex tea... more This paper focuses on the methodological conundrum of doing quick team ethnography in complex teams in a clinical setting studying childhood vaccine hesitancy. It describes how and to what extent a particular «thought style» (in Ludwik Fleck’s meaning) has developed through decisions, negotiations and disputes, producing a dialogical «local truth». It also shows how ethnographers can adapt their practice, considering day-to-day endogenous changes in fieldwork and public debate as well as exogenous ones, such as pandemics and wars. Following a compact exploration of a few sensitising concepts, referring in particular to Ludwik Fleck, Knorr-Cetina and Clifford Geertz, it explores how the complex team had worked in practice effectively while unpacking vaccine hesitancy. The paper describes three fundamental steps of this group endeavour: i) the genealogy of the birth of the team and the subsequent team-building process; ii) the illustration of how the group’s «thought collective» and interactions have produced in practice a «local truth»; iii) a reflexive stance on this particular empirical case of «method in process». The paper concludes with methodological remarks.
Keywords: vaccine hesitancy, rapid team ethnography, vaccination, childhood vaccine, qualitative health research, thought style, reflexive account, EU research policies.
Social Science & Medicine, 2024
Although Covid-19 was not the first pandemic, it was unique in the scale and intensity with which... more Although Covid-19 was not the first pandemic, it was unique in the scale and intensity with which societies responded. Countries reacted differently to the threat posed by the new virus. The public health crisis affected European societies in many ways. It also influenced the way the media portrayed vaccines and discussed factors related to vaccine hesitancy. Europeans differed in their risk perceptions, attitudes towards vaccines and vaccine uptake. In European countries, Covid-19-related discourses were at the centre of media attention for many months. This paper reports on a media analysis which revealed significant differences as well as some similarities in the media debates in different countries. The study focused on seven European countries and considered two dimensions of comparison: between the pre-Covid period and the beginning of the Covid pandemic period, and between countries. The rich methodological approach, including linguistics, semantic field analysis and discourse analysis of mainstream news media, allowed the authors to explore the set of meanings related to vaccination that might influence actors' agency. This approach led the authors to redefine vaccine hesitancy in terms of characteristics of the “society in the situation” rather than the psychological profile of individuals. We argue that vaccine hesitancy can be understood in terms of agency and temporality. This dilemma of choice that transforms the present into an irreversible past and must be taken in relation to an uncertain future, is particularly acute under the pressure of urgency and when someone's health is at stake. As such, it is linked to how vaccine meaning is co-produced within public discourses.
This paper serves as an introduction to a special issue that discusses the role of civil society ... more This paper serves as an introduction to a special issue that discusses the role of civil society in the labour market integration of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers in six European countries: the Czech Republic, Finland, Greece, Italy, Switzerland and the UK. The paper presents a typology of civil society’s involvement in migrant labour integration—a policy-contested field—based on the relationship between non-profit and public sector organisations. Such ideal-type models are traditional public administration delivery, co-management, co-production with a partial or non-existent role for public sector organisations, and full co-production. In the six countries covered by the special issue, the existing relationship between the public sector and the civil society sector is affected by the specific social, cultural and economic contexts that underpin both their labour markets and welfare states. Although one model predominates in each of the six countries, in different ways and with different mechanisms, in all of them there is a trend towards the development of coproduction whereby the state plays either a central or a residual role.
In this paper, we examine the changing landscape of migration policy work conducted by civil soci... more In this paper, we examine the changing landscape of migration policy work conducted by civil society organisations (CSOs) in the Czech Republic. We focus on how funding opportunities affect CSOs’ policy work, long-term planning and everyday practices. Through a qualitative analysis of 15 interviews with representatives of non-governmental organisations and 11 interviews with policy stakeholders, we explored the critical and reflexive strategies adopted by CSOs. A crucial role in developing critical capacity seems to stem from umbrella organisations—organisations whose members are organisations. With respect to CSOs’ strong dependency on the state, umbrella organisations might serve as shields protecting individual organisations from direct conflicts with governmental policies and institutions. In the end, we assume that meta-organisations potentially function as important vehicles for the reflexive development and evolution of organisations and decrease transaction costs for the organisation field.
International Journal of Communication , 2022
Drawing upon a case study of a heated public online debate on vaccination related to a measles ep... more Drawing upon a case study of a heated public online debate on vaccination related to a measles epidemic in the Czech Republic in 2019, this article's contribution is twofold: First, it adds to recent debates about the emotionalization of the (online) public sphere, and second, it examines communication strategies of vaccination supporters. To capture the heterogeneity of the online debate, we analyzed the discussion forums of 3 mainstream online news servers. Providing observations relevant to current debates surrounding anti-COVID-19 vaccination, our data reveal that the deliberative potential of online debate concerning vaccination is undermined by the offensive nature of pro-vaccination comments. These comments tend to be uncivil, toxic, and offensive mainly due to the use of communication strategies employing destructive emotions. We conclude that by labeling their opponents and constructing dichotomies in which they associate them with individualism and irrationality, the pro-vaccination discussants contribute to further polarization of stances toward vaccination.
Sociology of Sport Journal, 2022
This paper examines the role of collective memory in the protection of “traditional” sociocultura... more This paper examines the role of collective memory in the protection of “traditional” sociocultural and symbolic aspects of football vis-à-vis the processes of commodification and globalization. Empirical evidence that underpins the analysis is drawn from a multisite ethnographic study of football fan activism in the Czech Republic, Italy, and England, as well as at the European level. The authors argue that collective memory represents a significant component of the supporters’ mobilization and is related to the protection of specific football sites of memory, including club names, logos, colors, places, heroes, tragedies, and histories. The authors further explain that collective memory operates through three interconnected dimensions: embedded collective memory, transcendent collective memory, and the collective memory of contentious politics.
This article analyses the politicisation of public health debates. By empirically focusing on the... more This article analyses the politicisation of public health debates. By empirically focusing on the cases of vaccination and mental health care in the Czech Republic, we elaborate upon and apply an interpretative framework to analyse politicisation processes. Politicisation commonly refers to the political instrumentalisation of health care controversies as part of electoral campaigning and power struggles. By focusing on the role of civic engagement and the involvement of patients in these processes, we view politicisation as a broader process which encompasses a plurality of political behaviours and includes patients, users, carers, citizens, and experts. Our analysis draws on extensive empirical evidence, consisting of observations, semi-structured interviews, and a review of available documents. The study took place in the Czech Republic from 2017 to 2019. We conclude that politicisation takes place alongside four dimensions: (1) contingency, (2) agency, (3) a plurality of opinions and approaches, and (4) visibility. We further argue that the contingent nature of biomedical controversies is articulated in three different, possibly interconnected layers. Thus, any politicisation refers to (a) uncertainties and problematic aspects of biomedical objects of controversy; to (b) social rights, economic needs, and legal aspects as well as social representations of illness and vaccinations in the public debate; and to (c) the political processes which determine the previous two layers of politicisation, labelled as meta-politicisation. Last but not least, we stress the dynamic and non-linear nature of politicisation processes and the necessity to analyse the politicisation of public health controversies hand in hand with its connection to depoliticisation and repoliticisation.
Many countries aim to strengthen patient and public involvement (PPI) in healthcare decision-maki... more Many countries aim to strengthen patient and public involvement (PPI) in healthcare decision-making. This article discusses the institutionalisation of PPI in the Czech Republic from 2014 to the present based on a review of available documents as well as interviews with policymakers and representatives of patients’ organisations. Important steps that contributed to the institutionalisation of PPI were the establishment of the Ministry of Health's (MoH) Patients’ Council and the MoH's Patients’ Rights Support Department. The institutionalisation of PPI was facilitated through the bottom-up engagement of patients, top-down policy developments, transnational pressures, the support of statutory insurance funds and the pharmaceutical industry, and macro-societal developments. Compared to other post-socialist countries, the institutionalisation of patient involvement in policymaking is amongst the most developed. Although the pharmaceutical industry enhanced PPI, its involvement raised ethical concerns. Various stakeholders called for public funding of patients’ organisations to provide them with a stable income and more independence. In summary, the role of patients has been strengthened through macro-institutional involvement. Further progress will demonstrate whether these changes at the macro level of policymaking will stimulate more profound transformations at the meso and micro levels and, therefore, contribute to more profound cultural changes in doctor-patient relationships.
This paper analyses the contemporary public debate about vaccination, and medical knowledge more ... more This paper analyses the contemporary public debate about vaccination, and medical knowledge more broadly, in the context of social media. The study is focused on the massive online debate prompted by the Facebook status of the digital celebrity Mark Zuckerberg, who posted a picture of his two-month-old daughter, accompanied by a comment: “Doctor's visit -- time for vaccines!” Carrying out a qualitative analysis on a sample of 650 comments and replies, selected through systematic random sampling from an initial pool of over 10,000 user contributions, and utilising open and axial coding, we empirically inform the theoretical discussion around the concept of the reflexive patient and introduce the notion of multi-layered reflexivity. We argue that the reflexive debate surrounding this primarily medical problem is influenced by both biomedical and social scientific knowledge. Lay actors therefore discuss not only vaccination, but also its political and economic aspects as well as the post-truth information context of the debate. We stress that the reflexivity of social actors related to the post-truth era re-enters and influences the debate more than ever. Furthermore, we suggest that the interconnection of different layers of reflexivity can either reinforce certainty or deepen the ambiguity and uncertainty of reflexive agents.
This paper introduces the Special Issue of the Journal of Consumer Culture on the theme of 'Globa... more This paper introduces the Special Issue of the Journal of Consumer Culture on the theme of 'Global Sport and Consumer Culture'. We begin by briefly setting out how the interrelations of global sport and consumer culture have intensified through three historical stages: first, a 'take-off' phase from the late 19th century to the mid-1940s; second, an 'integrative and expansionist' phase from the late 1940s to the late 1980s; third, a 'transnational hyper-commodification' phase from the early 1990s onwards. We argue that contemporary global consumer sport is underpinned by five 'large-scale transnational processes', which are globalization, commodification, securitization, mediatization, and postmodernization. We explore how a variety of substantive themes subsequently emerge within global consumer sport, which are diversely referenced by the papers in this special issue; these themes include social structures and divisions, celebrity culture, the making of sport consumers, and the glocal aspects of global consumer sport. We conclude by outlining the contents of the seven papers contained within this Special Issue.
This paper examines how football, sport and other cultural fields are characterized by complex in... more This paper examines how football, sport and other cultural fields are characterized by complex interrelations between 'citizen' and 'consumer' identities. Our analysis centres specifically on critically examining and developing the concept of 'citimer' (citizen-consumer) with respect to activist supporter groups within European professional men's football. First, to establish the structural and cultural context for our analysis, we argue that the emergence of citizen-consumer identities in football has been driven by five underlying processes: globalization, commodification, securitization, mediatization, and postmodernization. Critical football fan movements have responded to these changes through greater reflexivization and politicization. Second, drawing on the broad academic literature, we develop the concept of the citizen-consumer (or 'citimer') and introduce its relevance to football. Third, to provide a more nuanced understanding of the citizen-consumer, we explore how this 'citimer' identity is constructed in two ways: 'from below' (by fan groups themselves at everyday level) and 'from above' (by clubs, governing bodies, media and other powerful forces within the football system). In both instances, we find that the citizen and consumer aspects of the citimer identity are interrelated in complex ways. Fourth, we conclude by highlighting the political reflexivity of citimers, and areas for future research. Our analysis draws on extensive data collection: with football supporters and officials in the Czech Republic, England and Italy, and at the wider European level; and, through access to diverse primary and secondary documents (e.g. policy papers, fanzines, and online forums). Our findings may be applied to examine citimer identities, practices and social relations not just within football and sport, but in many other cultural fields, such as art, communication, drama, fashion, film, and music.
Background: Managing medical professionals is challenging because professionals tend to adhere to... more Background: Managing medical professionals is challenging because professionals tend to adhere to a set of professional norms and enjoy autonomy from supervision. The aim of this paper is to study the interplay of physicians' professional identity, their organizational identity, and the role of professional autonomy in these processes of social identification.
Football supporters worldwide organise protests, petitions, campaigns, workshops and congresses a... more Football supporters worldwide organise protests, petitions, campaigns, workshops and congresses and are engaged in political lobbying. These expressions of supporters’ activism are nourished by both discontent with developments in football culture and an effort to change them. The aim of this methodologically driven article is to critically examine the role of digital ethnographies in exploring these processes. To reflexively explore the complex realities of recent transformations in football culture, this research study complemented offline data with online data. The use of digital data is discussed along the following dimensions: informational, representational, epistemological and relational. It is argued that the analytical dualism employed to critically discuss the relationship between online and offline spheres should be complemented with empirical duality to fully understand the role played by the digital sphere in social reality.
The topic of corruption has recently moved from the periphery to the centre of social scientific ... more The topic of corruption has recently moved from the periphery to the centre of social scientific attention. Notwithstanding the increased interest, research into corruption has been empirically limited and under-theorized. This study addresses that gap by providing an ethnographic account of football match-fixing in the Czech Republic. By qualitatively analysing both primary and secondary data, this study examines match-fixing and corruption through the lens of the concept of public secrecy. Three different, narrowly intertwined forms of match-fixing are identified: direct corruption, mediated corruption and meta-corruption. By conceptualizing match-fixing as a public secrecy, the study explores how the publicly secret nature of match-fixing is normalized and how the match-fixing complex is reinforced by a compromising complicity of social actors who are both victims and principals. Although this study focuses on a sport-related example, it has both theoretical and empirical implications for a sociological understanding of corruption outside the sphere of sport.
This study explores the complexities and ambiguities of the recent increase in criticism among fo... more This study explores the complexities and ambiguities of the recent increase in criticism among football supporters of so-called "modern football". Drawing on existing elaborations of the concept of reflexivity in sociology, this contribution theoretically extends the hegemony/resistance analytical framework that has commonly been employed to portray the criticism of football supporters in strict opposition to neo-liberal trends. The examination of the social and symbolic mechanisms surrounding anti-neo-liberal campaigning suggests that the slogan has been embraced by heterogeneous actors with contrasting topics, values, beliefs, and opinions. Considering the different reactions of contested anti-neo-liberal institutions and the context in which these processes take place, it has been demonstrated that protests and reflexive discursive practices can both inhibit and enhance the transformative potential of the "against modern football" slogan.
International Journal of Sport Communication, 2009
This article focuses on the role of the media in the processes of diffusion, maintenance, and und... more This article focuses on the role of the media in the processes of diffusion, maintenance, and undermining of corruption in sports, particularly soccer. Drawing chiefly on various illustrative examples of several recent cases of corruption and the existing academic literature on the topic, the article demonstrates how the media function as both an enemy and a facilitator of corruption in sports. Both micro- and macrosocial analytical dimensions for potential future research on the relationship between the media and corruption are proposed and discussed.
This paper extends the discussion on the 'dark side' of social capital in sport which has recentl... more This paper extends the discussion on the 'dark side' of social capital in sport which has recently been increasingly conceptualized in civil society studies. We define the dark side of social capital as situations in which trust, social ties and shared beliefs and norms that may be beneficial to some persons are detrimental to other individuals, sport movements, or for society at large. Furthermore, we understand the dark side of social capital as attempts to manipulate and misuse trust to achieve a particular interest. We argue that the majority of studies using the notion of dark side have investigated primarily sport practice rather than sport governance and have focused on either the macro-or micro-level neglecting the mesolevel. Additionally, previous studies have focused primarily on the exclusive role of bonding social networks at the expense of linking social capital and manipulation of trust. To contribute reducing these gaps, our analysis draws on evidence gathered during a multi-sited ethnographic study of Czech and Italian sport associations governing football, handball and sailing.
Sociology, 2009
The significance of sport as a social practice remains hidden at the margins of sociology. This p... more The significance of sport as a social practice remains hidden at the margins of sociology. This paper aims to highlight the social significance of sport by providing a sociological interpretation of the transformations of sailing in Czechoslovakia, and later in the Czech Republic, following the Velvet Revolution of 1989. These sport-related changes are understood to be consequences of wider sociocultural, economic and political transformations. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork of the Czech sailing movement, I argue that during Czechoslovakia's communist period, a time when sailing was labelled pejoratively as a 'bourgeois sport', it actually experienced a 'golden age' of enchantment. Based on Weber's concept of disenchantment and its subsequent developments in contemporary sociology, this paper demonstrates how this earlier enchantment was jeopardized by disenchantment threats that occurred after 1989, and how sailing has once again been re-enchanted in the current period.
The study of football fandom is a fast-growing area of research in the sociology of sport. The fi... more The study of football fandom is a fast-growing area of research in the sociology of sport. The first work of its kind, this book explores football fan activism and its impact on contemporary football culture in England, Italy and the Czech Republic.
Presenting a comparative study of fan activism in national and transnational contexts, it explores the characteristics of each country’s football fan culture as well as the varying and at times volatile dynamics between fans, authorities and the mass media. Its chapters address key themes and issues including: fans’ reactions to policing and security measures in football stadiums; the socio-cultural significance of symbols and rituals for fans at football games; and fans’ critical engagement with football club ownership and management. Offering original insights into the power of fan activism to influence social change, this book has wider implications for understanding social movements in other cultural and political spheres beyond Europe.
This paper focuses on the omnipresent yet analytically almost invisible role of memory and bodily... more This paper focuses on the omnipresent yet analytically almost invisible role of memory and bodily experiences in childhood vaccination. Previous scholarship on the sociocultural aspects of vaccination has primarily focused on the individual and sociodemographic factors underpinning vaccine hesitancy, the role of healthcare professionals and the politicisation or mediatisation of vaccination. Social practices considering vaccination were primarily explored as a matter of the present. Only little consideration was given to the past, individual biographies and sociohistorical temporalities. To complement this body of work, we focus on cognitively-based, embodied and emotionally-experienced memory related to vaccination. Based on a qualitative study of childhood vaccination conducted in Czechia between 2017 and 2019 consisting of ethnographic observations, in-depth interviews and a document review, we identified three interconnected forms of vaccination memory: bio-immune, social-collective and lived experience. Bio-immune memory refers to the body’s physical memory, gained to protect itself from diseases. Social-collective memory focuses on socially shared narratives about diseases and vaccination in the past. The memory of lived experience refers to feelings, embodied knowledge and pain. Our findings may inspire further analysis of childhood vaccination in other geographical contexts and amidst the reconfiguration of attitudes and newly established memories following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Rassegna Italiana di Sociologia, 2023
This paper focuses on the methodological conundrum of doing quick team ethnography in complex tea... more This paper focuses on the methodological conundrum of doing quick team ethnography in complex teams in a clinical setting studying childhood vaccine hesitancy. It describes how and to what extent a particular «thought style» (in Ludwik Fleck’s meaning) has developed through decisions, negotiations and disputes, producing a dialogical «local truth». It also shows how ethnographers can adapt their practice, considering day-to-day endogenous changes in fieldwork and public debate as well as exogenous ones, such as pandemics and wars. Following a compact exploration of a few sensitising concepts, referring in particular to Ludwik Fleck, Knorr-Cetina and Clifford Geertz, it explores how the complex team had worked in practice effectively while unpacking vaccine hesitancy. The paper describes three fundamental steps of this group endeavour: i) the genealogy of the birth of the team and the subsequent team-building process; ii) the illustration of how the group’s «thought collective» and interactions have produced in practice a «local truth»; iii) a reflexive stance on this particular empirical case of «method in process». The paper concludes with methodological remarks.
Keywords: vaccine hesitancy, rapid team ethnography, vaccination, childhood vaccine, qualitative health research, thought style, reflexive account, EU research policies.
Social Science & Medicine, 2024
Although Covid-19 was not the first pandemic, it was unique in the scale and intensity with which... more Although Covid-19 was not the first pandemic, it was unique in the scale and intensity with which societies responded. Countries reacted differently to the threat posed by the new virus. The public health crisis affected European societies in many ways. It also influenced the way the media portrayed vaccines and discussed factors related to vaccine hesitancy. Europeans differed in their risk perceptions, attitudes towards vaccines and vaccine uptake. In European countries, Covid-19-related discourses were at the centre of media attention for many months. This paper reports on a media analysis which revealed significant differences as well as some similarities in the media debates in different countries. The study focused on seven European countries and considered two dimensions of comparison: between the pre-Covid period and the beginning of the Covid pandemic period, and between countries. The rich methodological approach, including linguistics, semantic field analysis and discourse analysis of mainstream news media, allowed the authors to explore the set of meanings related to vaccination that might influence actors' agency. This approach led the authors to redefine vaccine hesitancy in terms of characteristics of the “society in the situation” rather than the psychological profile of individuals. We argue that vaccine hesitancy can be understood in terms of agency and temporality. This dilemma of choice that transforms the present into an irreversible past and must be taken in relation to an uncertain future, is particularly acute under the pressure of urgency and when someone's health is at stake. As such, it is linked to how vaccine meaning is co-produced within public discourses.
This paper serves as an introduction to a special issue that discusses the role of civil society ... more This paper serves as an introduction to a special issue that discusses the role of civil society in the labour market integration of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers in six European countries: the Czech Republic, Finland, Greece, Italy, Switzerland and the UK. The paper presents a typology of civil society’s involvement in migrant labour integration—a policy-contested field—based on the relationship between non-profit and public sector organisations. Such ideal-type models are traditional public administration delivery, co-management, co-production with a partial or non-existent role for public sector organisations, and full co-production. In the six countries covered by the special issue, the existing relationship between the public sector and the civil society sector is affected by the specific social, cultural and economic contexts that underpin both their labour markets and welfare states. Although one model predominates in each of the six countries, in different ways and with different mechanisms, in all of them there is a trend towards the development of coproduction whereby the state plays either a central or a residual role.
In this paper, we examine the changing landscape of migration policy work conducted by civil soci... more In this paper, we examine the changing landscape of migration policy work conducted by civil society organisations (CSOs) in the Czech Republic. We focus on how funding opportunities affect CSOs’ policy work, long-term planning and everyday practices. Through a qualitative analysis of 15 interviews with representatives of non-governmental organisations and 11 interviews with policy stakeholders, we explored the critical and reflexive strategies adopted by CSOs. A crucial role in developing critical capacity seems to stem from umbrella organisations—organisations whose members are organisations. With respect to CSOs’ strong dependency on the state, umbrella organisations might serve as shields protecting individual organisations from direct conflicts with governmental policies and institutions. In the end, we assume that meta-organisations potentially function as important vehicles for the reflexive development and evolution of organisations and decrease transaction costs for the organisation field.
International Journal of Communication , 2022
Drawing upon a case study of a heated public online debate on vaccination related to a measles ep... more Drawing upon a case study of a heated public online debate on vaccination related to a measles epidemic in the Czech Republic in 2019, this article's contribution is twofold: First, it adds to recent debates about the emotionalization of the (online) public sphere, and second, it examines communication strategies of vaccination supporters. To capture the heterogeneity of the online debate, we analyzed the discussion forums of 3 mainstream online news servers. Providing observations relevant to current debates surrounding anti-COVID-19 vaccination, our data reveal that the deliberative potential of online debate concerning vaccination is undermined by the offensive nature of pro-vaccination comments. These comments tend to be uncivil, toxic, and offensive mainly due to the use of communication strategies employing destructive emotions. We conclude that by labeling their opponents and constructing dichotomies in which they associate them with individualism and irrationality, the pro-vaccination discussants contribute to further polarization of stances toward vaccination.
Sociology of Sport Journal, 2022
This paper examines the role of collective memory in the protection of “traditional” sociocultura... more This paper examines the role of collective memory in the protection of “traditional” sociocultural and symbolic aspects of football vis-à-vis the processes of commodification and globalization. Empirical evidence that underpins the analysis is drawn from a multisite ethnographic study of football fan activism in the Czech Republic, Italy, and England, as well as at the European level. The authors argue that collective memory represents a significant component of the supporters’ mobilization and is related to the protection of specific football sites of memory, including club names, logos, colors, places, heroes, tragedies, and histories. The authors further explain that collective memory operates through three interconnected dimensions: embedded collective memory, transcendent collective memory, and the collective memory of contentious politics.
This article analyses the politicisation of public health debates. By empirically focusing on the... more This article analyses the politicisation of public health debates. By empirically focusing on the cases of vaccination and mental health care in the Czech Republic, we elaborate upon and apply an interpretative framework to analyse politicisation processes. Politicisation commonly refers to the political instrumentalisation of health care controversies as part of electoral campaigning and power struggles. By focusing on the role of civic engagement and the involvement of patients in these processes, we view politicisation as a broader process which encompasses a plurality of political behaviours and includes patients, users, carers, citizens, and experts. Our analysis draws on extensive empirical evidence, consisting of observations, semi-structured interviews, and a review of available documents. The study took place in the Czech Republic from 2017 to 2019. We conclude that politicisation takes place alongside four dimensions: (1) contingency, (2) agency, (3) a plurality of opinions and approaches, and (4) visibility. We further argue that the contingent nature of biomedical controversies is articulated in three different, possibly interconnected layers. Thus, any politicisation refers to (a) uncertainties and problematic aspects of biomedical objects of controversy; to (b) social rights, economic needs, and legal aspects as well as social representations of illness and vaccinations in the public debate; and to (c) the political processes which determine the previous two layers of politicisation, labelled as meta-politicisation. Last but not least, we stress the dynamic and non-linear nature of politicisation processes and the necessity to analyse the politicisation of public health controversies hand in hand with its connection to depoliticisation and repoliticisation.
Many countries aim to strengthen patient and public involvement (PPI) in healthcare decision-maki... more Many countries aim to strengthen patient and public involvement (PPI) in healthcare decision-making. This article discusses the institutionalisation of PPI in the Czech Republic from 2014 to the present based on a review of available documents as well as interviews with policymakers and representatives of patients’ organisations. Important steps that contributed to the institutionalisation of PPI were the establishment of the Ministry of Health's (MoH) Patients’ Council and the MoH's Patients’ Rights Support Department. The institutionalisation of PPI was facilitated through the bottom-up engagement of patients, top-down policy developments, transnational pressures, the support of statutory insurance funds and the pharmaceutical industry, and macro-societal developments. Compared to other post-socialist countries, the institutionalisation of patient involvement in policymaking is amongst the most developed. Although the pharmaceutical industry enhanced PPI, its involvement raised ethical concerns. Various stakeholders called for public funding of patients’ organisations to provide them with a stable income and more independence. In summary, the role of patients has been strengthened through macro-institutional involvement. Further progress will demonstrate whether these changes at the macro level of policymaking will stimulate more profound transformations at the meso and micro levels and, therefore, contribute to more profound cultural changes in doctor-patient relationships.
This paper analyses the contemporary public debate about vaccination, and medical knowledge more ... more This paper analyses the contemporary public debate about vaccination, and medical knowledge more broadly, in the context of social media. The study is focused on the massive online debate prompted by the Facebook status of the digital celebrity Mark Zuckerberg, who posted a picture of his two-month-old daughter, accompanied by a comment: “Doctor's visit -- time for vaccines!” Carrying out a qualitative analysis on a sample of 650 comments and replies, selected through systematic random sampling from an initial pool of over 10,000 user contributions, and utilising open and axial coding, we empirically inform the theoretical discussion around the concept of the reflexive patient and introduce the notion of multi-layered reflexivity. We argue that the reflexive debate surrounding this primarily medical problem is influenced by both biomedical and social scientific knowledge. Lay actors therefore discuss not only vaccination, but also its political and economic aspects as well as the post-truth information context of the debate. We stress that the reflexivity of social actors related to the post-truth era re-enters and influences the debate more than ever. Furthermore, we suggest that the interconnection of different layers of reflexivity can either reinforce certainty or deepen the ambiguity and uncertainty of reflexive agents.
This paper introduces the Special Issue of the Journal of Consumer Culture on the theme of 'Globa... more This paper introduces the Special Issue of the Journal of Consumer Culture on the theme of 'Global Sport and Consumer Culture'. We begin by briefly setting out how the interrelations of global sport and consumer culture have intensified through three historical stages: first, a 'take-off' phase from the late 19th century to the mid-1940s; second, an 'integrative and expansionist' phase from the late 1940s to the late 1980s; third, a 'transnational hyper-commodification' phase from the early 1990s onwards. We argue that contemporary global consumer sport is underpinned by five 'large-scale transnational processes', which are globalization, commodification, securitization, mediatization, and postmodernization. We explore how a variety of substantive themes subsequently emerge within global consumer sport, which are diversely referenced by the papers in this special issue; these themes include social structures and divisions, celebrity culture, the making of sport consumers, and the glocal aspects of global consumer sport. We conclude by outlining the contents of the seven papers contained within this Special Issue.
This paper examines how football, sport and other cultural fields are characterized by complex in... more This paper examines how football, sport and other cultural fields are characterized by complex interrelations between 'citizen' and 'consumer' identities. Our analysis centres specifically on critically examining and developing the concept of 'citimer' (citizen-consumer) with respect to activist supporter groups within European professional men's football. First, to establish the structural and cultural context for our analysis, we argue that the emergence of citizen-consumer identities in football has been driven by five underlying processes: globalization, commodification, securitization, mediatization, and postmodernization. Critical football fan movements have responded to these changes through greater reflexivization and politicization. Second, drawing on the broad academic literature, we develop the concept of the citizen-consumer (or 'citimer') and introduce its relevance to football. Third, to provide a more nuanced understanding of the citizen-consumer, we explore how this 'citimer' identity is constructed in two ways: 'from below' (by fan groups themselves at everyday level) and 'from above' (by clubs, governing bodies, media and other powerful forces within the football system). In both instances, we find that the citizen and consumer aspects of the citimer identity are interrelated in complex ways. Fourth, we conclude by highlighting the political reflexivity of citimers, and areas for future research. Our analysis draws on extensive data collection: with football supporters and officials in the Czech Republic, England and Italy, and at the wider European level; and, through access to diverse primary and secondary documents (e.g. policy papers, fanzines, and online forums). Our findings may be applied to examine citimer identities, practices and social relations not just within football and sport, but in many other cultural fields, such as art, communication, drama, fashion, film, and music.
Background: Managing medical professionals is challenging because professionals tend to adhere to... more Background: Managing medical professionals is challenging because professionals tend to adhere to a set of professional norms and enjoy autonomy from supervision. The aim of this paper is to study the interplay of physicians' professional identity, their organizational identity, and the role of professional autonomy in these processes of social identification.
Football supporters worldwide organise protests, petitions, campaigns, workshops and congresses a... more Football supporters worldwide organise protests, petitions, campaigns, workshops and congresses and are engaged in political lobbying. These expressions of supporters’ activism are nourished by both discontent with developments in football culture and an effort to change them. The aim of this methodologically driven article is to critically examine the role of digital ethnographies in exploring these processes. To reflexively explore the complex realities of recent transformations in football culture, this research study complemented offline data with online data. The use of digital data is discussed along the following dimensions: informational, representational, epistemological and relational. It is argued that the analytical dualism employed to critically discuss the relationship between online and offline spheres should be complemented with empirical duality to fully understand the role played by the digital sphere in social reality.
The topic of corruption has recently moved from the periphery to the centre of social scientific ... more The topic of corruption has recently moved from the periphery to the centre of social scientific attention. Notwithstanding the increased interest, research into corruption has been empirically limited and under-theorized. This study addresses that gap by providing an ethnographic account of football match-fixing in the Czech Republic. By qualitatively analysing both primary and secondary data, this study examines match-fixing and corruption through the lens of the concept of public secrecy. Three different, narrowly intertwined forms of match-fixing are identified: direct corruption, mediated corruption and meta-corruption. By conceptualizing match-fixing as a public secrecy, the study explores how the publicly secret nature of match-fixing is normalized and how the match-fixing complex is reinforced by a compromising complicity of social actors who are both victims and principals. Although this study focuses on a sport-related example, it has both theoretical and empirical implications for a sociological understanding of corruption outside the sphere of sport.
This study explores the complexities and ambiguities of the recent increase in criticism among fo... more This study explores the complexities and ambiguities of the recent increase in criticism among football supporters of so-called "modern football". Drawing on existing elaborations of the concept of reflexivity in sociology, this contribution theoretically extends the hegemony/resistance analytical framework that has commonly been employed to portray the criticism of football supporters in strict opposition to neo-liberal trends. The examination of the social and symbolic mechanisms surrounding anti-neo-liberal campaigning suggests that the slogan has been embraced by heterogeneous actors with contrasting topics, values, beliefs, and opinions. Considering the different reactions of contested anti-neo-liberal institutions and the context in which these processes take place, it has been demonstrated that protests and reflexive discursive practices can both inhibit and enhance the transformative potential of the "against modern football" slogan.
International Journal of Sport Communication, 2009
This article focuses on the role of the media in the processes of diffusion, maintenance, and und... more This article focuses on the role of the media in the processes of diffusion, maintenance, and undermining of corruption in sports, particularly soccer. Drawing chiefly on various illustrative examples of several recent cases of corruption and the existing academic literature on the topic, the article demonstrates how the media function as both an enemy and a facilitator of corruption in sports. Both micro- and macrosocial analytical dimensions for potential future research on the relationship between the media and corruption are proposed and discussed.
This paper extends the discussion on the 'dark side' of social capital in sport which has recentl... more This paper extends the discussion on the 'dark side' of social capital in sport which has recently been increasingly conceptualized in civil society studies. We define the dark side of social capital as situations in which trust, social ties and shared beliefs and norms that may be beneficial to some persons are detrimental to other individuals, sport movements, or for society at large. Furthermore, we understand the dark side of social capital as attempts to manipulate and misuse trust to achieve a particular interest. We argue that the majority of studies using the notion of dark side have investigated primarily sport practice rather than sport governance and have focused on either the macro-or micro-level neglecting the mesolevel. Additionally, previous studies have focused primarily on the exclusive role of bonding social networks at the expense of linking social capital and manipulation of trust. To contribute reducing these gaps, our analysis draws on evidence gathered during a multi-sited ethnographic study of Czech and Italian sport associations governing football, handball and sailing.
Sociology, 2009
The significance of sport as a social practice remains hidden at the margins of sociology. This p... more The significance of sport as a social practice remains hidden at the margins of sociology. This paper aims to highlight the social significance of sport by providing a sociological interpretation of the transformations of sailing in Czechoslovakia, and later in the Czech Republic, following the Velvet Revolution of 1989. These sport-related changes are understood to be consequences of wider sociocultural, economic and political transformations. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork of the Czech sailing movement, I argue that during Czechoslovakia's communist period, a time when sailing was labelled pejoratively as a 'bourgeois sport', it actually experienced a 'golden age' of enchantment. Based on Weber's concept of disenchantment and its subsequent developments in contemporary sociology, this paper demonstrates how this earlier enchantment was jeopardized by disenchantment threats that occurred after 1989, and how sailing has once again been re-enchanted in the current period.
Sport in Society, 2010
The paper presents a socio-historical interpretation of sport-based resistance against the commun... more The paper presents a socio-historical interpretation of sport-based resistance against the communist regime in Czechoslovakia. It argues that the sphere of sport was never absolutely subordinated to the prevailing political order and it maintains that sport provided a space for expressions of resistance. Such resistance is not just evident in cases of large demonstrations during which Czech and Slovak sport celebrities reinforced public protests with grand symbolic and massmediated gestures. The same level of importance to opposition against the dominant power can be attributed to small everyday practices. Hence, while considering glorious acts of resistance and protest with a large-scale impact, the study simultaneously explores subtle and everyday subversive strategies that have appeared in public participation in sport. The study is based on a secondary analysis of documents and on semi-structured interviews with a number of representatives from the Czech sport movement.
Routledge Handbook of Tennis (ed. Robert J. Lake), 2019
This chapter provides a socio-historical account of the role and position of tennis in the Czech ... more This chapter provides a socio-historical account of the role and position of tennis in the Czech countries since its introduction in the 19th century until today, with a particular focus on the development of tennis before and after the ‘Velvet Revolution’ in 1989. We pay attention to symbolic struggles over the definition and meaning of tennis in sporting, political, economic and social arenas. First, we briefly outline the roots of tennis in Czech countries. Next, we focus on the development of tennis in the socialist regime and explore its socio-cultural nature established and maintained behind the official label of tennis as a ‘bourgeois’ sport. We explain that notwithstanding symbolic marginalization of tennis, the centralized sport policy and systematic support of youth sport together with massive sport volunteering resulted in numerous international successes. The ‘Velvet Revolution’ in 1989 brought fundamental transformations with the inflow of private funding. Tennis movement experienced struggles between former and newly established tennis officials, with the latter group distinguishing itself from the ‘old socialist order’.
Abstrakt: Prezentovaná stať hledá dílčí odpověď na otázku, zda se média mohou podílet na rozvoji ... more Abstrakt: Prezentovaná stať hledá dílčí odpověď na otázku, zda se média mohou podílet na rozvoji mediální gramotnosti. Studie vychází z předpokladu, že mediální gramotnost se projevuje v reflexivitě mediálních publik a že k posílení této reflexivity mohou přispět i média referující o sobě samých. Paralelně s tím upozorňuje na kontext, v němž k takovému reflexivnímu referování o médiích dochází. Ten představují mediální sdělení, jejichž reflexivita je omezena na efektivitu a účinnost dění uvnitř mediálního pole, případně sdělení, která spíše než k reflexivitě mediálního pole přispívají k jeho neproblematizované reprodukci. Obsahová analýza článků a zmínek o médiích v českých denících Právo a MF Dnes v letech 1999 a 2004 ukazuje, že zmíněné deníky o médiích sice referují stále více, ale že způsob, jakým tak činí, přispívá nejen ke zvýšené reflexivitě, a tudíž ke zvýšené mediální gramotnosti, ale i, a to zejména, k posílení nereflexivního průběhu mediální konzumace.
The SIRIUS research project explores the enablers and barriers of labour market integration for m... more The SIRIUS research project explores the enablers and barriers of labour market integration for migrants, refugees and asylum seekers (MRAs). Our research is organized into several work packages, and this report details the findings of the fourth SIRIUS work package, focusing on the role of civil society organisations (CSOs) in the labour market integration (LMI) of MRAs. Our report examines the positions of CSOs and their perception by MRAs in the SIRIUS partner countries, namely the Czech Republic, Denmark, Greece, Finland, Italy, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom, and thus our findings reflect experiences across a wide variety of different national contexts.
Our findings suggest that CSOs can work as important actors enhancing not only integration into the labour market but also integration through the labour market. CSOs are important language course providers, and thanks to their social, legal, and administrative guidance, CSOs help MRAs in overcoming ineffective administrative and legal structures. These activities are provided by the majority of CSOs across SIRIUS countries. Several CSOs in these countries also assist MRAs with the recruitment process, providing courses and advice on how to prepare for an interview, how to write a CV, or how to draft a cover letter. Furthermore, CSOs also assist MRAs in their efforts to have their skills and qualifications recognised. Moreover, by providing mentorship, training programmes, volunteering, or even direct employment, CSOs contribute to the development of MRAs’ skills and competencies and provide platforms to enhance the agency and autonomy of MRAs. However, such a capacity is unevenly spatially distributed, it is rather rare in the Czech Republic and Denmark, it is somewhat developed in the United Kingdom, and more strongly developed in Finland, some areas of Italy, among the solidarity movement organisations of Greece, and in the Canton of Geneva in Switzerland. Moreover, CSOs either individually or collectively, frequently raise the problematic situation of illegal practices on the part of employers, exploitation, human trafficking, or underpaid wages. Last but not the least, CSOs help to mitigate and, often together with MRAs, struggle against the hostile context of a widespread atmosphere of xenophobia. By analysing the empirical evidence in seven SIRIUS countries, we have identified five different CSO positions which differ in their autonomy and dependence on the state, their capacity to instigate MRA agency, and their participation in decision-making processes, lobbying, or advocacy. Taking into account the heterogeneity of CSOs across and within national contexts, we view these five different CSO positions as (1) uncritical extenders, (2) pro-active service providers, (3) autonomous co-producers, (4) innovative and creative CSOs, and (5) alternative CSOs.
Pouliční, lokální televizní stanice, které od roku 2002 vznikají na území Itálie. První televize ... more Pouliční, lokální televizní stanice, které od roku 2002 vznikají na území Itálie. První televize tohoto typu, Orfeo TV, začala vysílat v červnu roku 2002 v Boloni. Zakládání pouličních televizí je vyjádřením úsilí o znovuustavení plurality na italském televizním trhu, jež byla podlomena po Berlusconiho volebním vítězství v roce 2001. K rozšíření fenoménu výrazně přispívá i finanční dostupnost informačních technologií a s tím rozvíjející se praxe videoaktivismu coby součást činnosti tzv. antiglobalizačních hnutí. Kromě jednoznačně dominující funkce politické a subverzivní (pouliční televize bývá obecněji označovaná jako taktická televize nebo forma mediálního aktivismu) deklaruje síť pouličních televizních stanic mezi dalšími cíli svého působení i funkci socializační a komunitní. A to s důrazem na posílení lokálních vazeb a stimulaci občanské participace. Pouliční televize má své historické předchůdce v pirátských rozhlasových stanicích, jež v Itálii vznikaly od konce sedmdesátých let (první Radio Alice založena v roce 1976), a spojuje je s nimi vůdčí ideová osobnost, Franco Berardi (též Bifo), filozof a žák Félixe Guattariho. Rozšíření fenoménu v roce 2002 předcházely zkušenosti s několikadenním vysíláním boloňské La TV del Pratello (1996) a římské OffLineTv (1996, 1997, 1998). Pouliční televize byly založeny i v jiných zemích, například v Nizozemí, Španělsku, Švýcarsku či Argentině. Z technologického pohledu je fungování pouliční televize zajištěno kombinací digitálních a analogových technologií. Digitálních na úrovni zajištění produkce mediálních sdělení, analogových na úrovni vysílání signálu. Ten se šíří ve stínu obsazených vlnových frekvencích. Dostupnost vysílání pouličních televizí je omezen na několik bloků nebo menší čtvrť, dosah signálu se pohybuje v řádu stovek metrů. S ohledem na otevřenost produkce je počet diváků mnohdy i nižší než počet osob, jež chodu televize zajišťuje. Z právního hlediska bývá legálnost vysílání pouliční televize legitimizována poukazem na svobodu projevu zakotvenou v jedenadvacátém článku Italské ústavy. Takový výklad naráží na skutečnost, že pouliční televize nedisponují licencí k provozování vysílání, kterou vyžaduje komunikační zákon. Daný fakt vedl v několika případech k policejnímu zastavení vysílání z pověření Ministerstva pro komunikaci. Prvním případem byla stanice Telefabbrica, pouliční televize spravovaná dělníky FIATu v Termini Imerese mapující stávky, pozastavená již po třech dnech vysílání. Nejznámější případem je uzavření stanice Disco Volante (Létající talíř) ze Senigallie, televize spravované tělesně postiženými, kteří ve svých reportážích upozorňovali na architektonické bariéry ve městě, nepříznivé pracovní podmínky nebo na problematický život imigrantů. Vzhledem k vysílání bez licence neexistují žádné oficiální údaje o počtu pouličních televizí v Itálii. Odhady se pohybují mezi jedním až dvěma sty průběžně vznikajících a zanikajících pouličních televizí. Literatura a zdroje: http://www.radioalice.org/nuovatelestreet/index.php http://www.noemalab.org/sections/specials/tetcm/2003-04/televisioni_strada/mediattivismo.html Berardi, F. Jacquemet, M., Vitali, G. 2003. Telestreet -Macchina immaginativa non omologata, Milano: Baldini Castoldi Dalai.
Tento esejisticky laděný příspěvek se zaměřuje na roli masových médií při šíření a reprodukci kor... more Tento esejisticky laděný příspěvek se zaměřuje na roli masových médií při šíření a reprodukci korupce ve sportu. Poukazuje především na ambivalenci postavení masových médií. Shrnuje dosavadní akademickou reflexi fenoménu a za pomocí několika příkladů nedávných medializovaných případů korupce vysvětluje, jak se média, na straně jedné, podílejí na boji proti korupci ve sportu a jak k ní, na straně druhé, mohou zrovna tak přispívat. Příspěvek načrtává mikro-sociální a makro-sociální dimenze, v nichž může být vztah masových médií a sportovní korupce nadále promýšlen a systematicky analyzován.
