Between Ultras and Barras – prevention, repression, and risk management state responses to football violence as a political-cultural arena in Italy and Argentina

Abstract

This article offers a comparative analysis of how football violence is addressed as a public issue in Italy and Argentina. It focuses on state and institutional responses to sports security concerns, particularly through the lens of the negative portrayal of organized fan groups –ultras in Italy and barras in Argentina– shaped by dominant social discourses in both countries. The study finds that despite distinct local realities, both contexts exhibit remarkably similar approaches to managing football violence, rooted in shared subcultural elements and, more significantly, in a political rationale oriented toward social control and risk management. The article identifies a specific preventive logic in which security is imbued with ideological significance and functions as a mechanism of power. It highlights the tensions among various social actors with competing interests (economic and political), and explores how the relationship between security and freedom is redefined, both in terms of individual rights and within the unique space of the stadium. All of this unfolds within the broader context of commodified football, now a powerful and lucrative global industry.