ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the relative (un)importance of far left and far right ideology among different sections of the White Angels’ and the Bad Blue Boys’ membership. First, the cross-over between certain fan practices and more traditional political activist belonging is highlighted. Earlier literature on fandom as a form of sub-politics is then introduced and left and right ideology in the two groups is considered. It is argued that both groups employ a large degree of ideological flexibility, with the Bad Blue Boys operating along a combination of libertarian and oppositional nationalist lines, while anti-nationalism and anti-fascism are key for the White Angels. The second half of the chapter discusses the various meanings and uses of far right symbolism by some football fans. Far-right symbols consisting of a mixture of Nazi and radical Croatian nationalist symbols associated with the Axis-controlled Independent State of Croatia (1941–1945), are regularly seen in public spaces across Zagreb, and not infrequently alongside motifs associated with the Bad Blue Boys and Dinamo. Three main interpretations are considered – referential use of such symbols, their instrumental use in fan struggles against the Croatian Football Association (Hrvatski nogometni savez), and usage indexing local forms of belonging, sociality and an oppositional subculture. These uses are related to the positionality of researchers discussing them. In the conclusion of this chapter, the wider political dangers of the appearance of such symbols in normalizing far-right ideas are elaborated.
