ABSTRACT
This chapter is devoted to a broad re-evaluation of all main points covered in this book. We begin with a discussion of the political agency of football fans, followed by the main reasons why the left is not represented at all in Polish football stands. The lack of leftist Polish groups is compared with the existence of such groups in ultra stands across Europe. We also discuss to what extent Polish fans are unique, and to what extent, and under what conditions, we may extrapolate some of the findings. Such analysis leads to a modest exercise in developing a taxonomy of politically engaged football fans. The main axes the taxonomy is based on are: the passivity/activity of fans and the grass-roots/institutional activity of fans. In the final part, we briefly evaluate our experience of joint work and our discussions on the topic which was politically sensitive during the very period when we were working on this book. Writing on ideologically sensitive issues provides an extraordinary background for discussion on the reflexivity of the researchers. We also refer to the experience of our efforts to engage in media debates as public sociologists who share their expertise of researching politically and ideologically charged themes in an era of bitter divisions within Polish society, media and politics. The concluding lines of the chapter include some research questions for further projects.
