June 21

9:00 AM - 10:45 AM

1.B.03

Mariel Aquino

Abstract: Sports can often serve as windows into the inner workings of ethnonationalism, and this paper will explore one of the most compelling instances of this phenomenon: that of Athletic Club de Bilbao, a Spanish professional soccer organization that plays in (and represents) the Basque country. Over the years, the club has become an extremely important symbol of national pride for Basques as a whole because of its policy of only playing with athletes who are “Basque”. Though the men’s team has not won a major title since the mid-1980s, Athletic Club's female side has been incredibly successful: in 2015 they won their fifth league championship. Despite their success, they receive considerably less attention than the men's side, and more than one player also works as a health professional for the men's team. Ironically, the Athletic women’s success has come to be seen as a matter of course—Basque nationalist narratives have historically argued that Basque women are more liberated than those of other nations. Thus, Athletic Club’s women’s team’s existence, as well as fans’ responses to it, is extremely fertile ground for examining the multiple ways in which gender and nationalism intersect. How do nationalist sports narratives change when they are focused on a group of women rather than men? More importantly, how can an analysis of these narratives help us better understand the place of women in the nation? In examining the history of this women's team, I hope to offer insights into questions of ethnonationalism, gender, and belonging.

Disciplines: History
Sociology

Substantive Tags: Gender and Sexuality, Identity and Ethnicity, Leisure, Regionalism, Western Europe

Research Networks: None of the Above

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