Fan identification and national identity

It is commonly assumed that sport plays an important role for national identity. However, empirical research has primarily focused on sport’s role for emotional-affectice rather than cognitive aspects of national identity. Therefore, research presented here explores whether identification with the German national soccer team serves to reinforce ethnic or civic conceptions of national identity. Analyses of a unique dataset conducted during the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2016?EURO show that national team identification is an important determinant of national pride and national belonging. Respondents who identify with the national soccer team can adhere to different conceptions of national identity. It seems that national pride and affection as well as conceptions of national identity represent stable attitudes not affected by the success of the national team. Further research should improve conceptual clarity and measurement.     

Sandwiched Between Sport and Politics: Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile,Formula 1, and Non-Democratic Regimes

As the governing body of world motorsports since 1904, Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) has, through the growth of Formula 1, become increasingly embedded in the globalization of commerce and faced with difficult political issues. Specifically, FIA events are used to sanitize the image of undemocratic countries, and FIA is, thus, becoming increasingly entangled in spheres other than sport. This presents a challenge to a sporting body which traditionally follows the principle of not mixing sport and politics. To explore this topic, two Formula 1 races where sport and politics are intertwined are chosen as examples: the 1985 South African Grand Prix and the 2016 Azerbaijan Grand Prix. As the holding of both events evoked controversy, for various reasons, this paper investigates whether something has changed at FIA along the way, and, in that case, what? As findings demonstrate, while the races differ and the context has changed, the FIA has kept its policy despite the fact that it has become increasingly difficult to maintain its neutral stance.     

New Modes of Internal Governance of Higher Education Institutions: The case of Göteborg University

Swedish higher education institutions havebeen given increased autonomy to organise theirinternal affairs, raising numerous demands onleadership and governance. Changes are so profoundthat institutions wanting to create an`entrepreneurial response' through a newdecision-making structure must undergo a culturerevolution, threatening existing power structures. Three organising principles are used to describe andanalyse Göteborg University. One conclusion isthat collegial decision-making bodies shouldsimultaneously be redefined, reestablished andabolished, depending on the issues dealt with.Commissions as deans and department heads must beclear and accountable to superiors or tonon-sub-optimising boards in a balanced powerstructure.     

Implications of the Bologna Process for Throughput in the Higher Education Sector: an empirical illustration based on a Finnish-British comparison

This study illustrates the differences between Finnish and British graduates in the higher education-to-work transition and related market mechanisms in the year 2000. Specifically, the differences between the Finnish and British students' academic careers and ability to find employment after graduation were evaluated in relation to the Finnish HE policy that hastens the entry of new graduates into the labour market. The Finnish HE system is representative of a system that operates in an occupation-specific and relatively strictly-regulated labour market context, whereas the labour market context for the British HE system is essentially the most liberal in Europe. The results of the study suggest that it is not the length of the first degree programmes per se that determines the throughput of the HE sector, but the relative emphasis placed on the opportunity structures pertaining to HE participation and on career mobility in the labour market.