Sports, Violences and Territories
The multitude of analyses dealing with the sport and violence is on the increase. For some, sport is clearly part of an historical process of symbolic and ritualistic domination of violence and control of aggressive behaviour. For others, violence lies at the heart of the territorial organization of sport and one of the major afflictions from which it suffers. But violence in sport is a matter of territory and geography, and when its location, extent and properties are specified, it becomes possible to study the relationship of a society to its spaces. This article aims to show how violence occurs in specific places, be it close to the sports stadium, in the stadium or in natural spaces appropriated by groups of sports enthusiasts, It is both a record reflecting a variety ongoing research and an invitation to continue the debate on territory in relation to violence and sport. This article first provides an historical account of the interpretation of this phenomenon, either as a competitive sport or a component expressing the codification of violence, or else as a war in microcosm. It then presents an analysis of contemporary violence at the football stadium and a reflection on territorial clashes between spectators.