A slew of studies of racism, inclusion and communication

#THIS ARTICLE IN DUTCH is written by Bas Kammenga | translated by Liesbeth Wallien

Two years ago Jacco van Sterkenburg was appointed endowed professor in ‘Race, Inclusion and Communication, specifically in relation to Football and Media’ at Erasmus University Rotterdam. He presents a brief overview of current doctoral research.

For over twenty years Jacco van Sterkenburg has been researching racism, discrimination and inclusion in football and in the media. ‘Subjects that rose to the fore again in 2019, with the discrimination of professional footballer Ahmad Mendes Moreira. Black Lives Matter, too, rekindled the attention for these issues.’

Four themes
In cooperation with several partners in society, the chair at Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) was instituted in 2021, for a period of five years. ‘It is a way to use the knowledge we generate to take action, to realise changes. I entered into a dialogue with organisations like anti-discrimination organisation Fare, the football union UEFA, and FIFPRO, the Global Player Council. They wanted to join forces with me and the EUR. We found the funds to finance a PhD student, Palesa Mashigo. She will do research in the period 2022 to 2026.’

Over the course of four years four major themes will be considered, each resulting in an academic study. ‘In the first year we researched how leaders in European football looked at racism, and what they can and are willing to do about it. We did so by holding extensive interviews with directors all over Europe. The second part is about players, how they experience racism and what they think of the measures taken against discrimination and racism. The third study will make an inventory of online discrimination and racism. And the last study will go into grassroots sport. In consultation with the partners we will decide which subject is the most relevant to each of the four studies.’

Diversity
In cooperation with FARE the EUR recently launched a Massive Online Open Course (MOOC), which will also focus on diversity in football leadership. ‘It is an important part of a big European project. It is apparent that there is little diversity in professional football in positions like board members and trainers/coaches. Women as well as people from an ethnic minority background are hugely underrepresented. There is diversity in the field but that is not reflected in those positions, although there are people with the ambitions.’

An overview is made of these positions in fourteen countries, including the Netherlands. ‘We do this together with the Mulier Institute. The MOOC is an online course for people in the world of football who have the ambition to become a coach or a leader. The course is targeted at women and people from ethnic minorities in particular. A variety of low-threshold themes is available, free of charge; the football landscape is mapped out, there are clips of people telling about their experiences, and tips. Participants will receive a certificate if they complete the course and do assignments.’

The form of a MOOC is an output that is different than standard academic publications. ‘It is digital, low-threshold and contributes to a good cause. Although it is a trend to publish things online to reach a bigger audience, this is not for our own students specifically but for another target group: people with ambitions in the world of football from groups that are underrepresented in leadership positions. These online modules will remain topical and useful in the years to come.’

Football and the media
Two other PhD students, Arne van Lienden and Carmen Longas Luque, currently research the significance of ethnicity in football on TV. ‘This is a NWO Vidi-project, intended for innovative research in academics. The three instruments Veni, Vidi en Vici intend to appoint PhD students and academics can apply for these tools at different stages of their careers.’

‘The Vidi tool is for mid-career PhD students. It is a vast scholarship of EUR 800,000 for a period of five years. Both PhD students research certain types of implicit racial inclusion and exclusion, like ethnic stereotypes. They study descriptions of football players on TV in the Netherlands, England, Spain and Poland and how the public responds to those descriptions.’

NWA-track
Lastly, there is a NWA track from 1 January to 2026 inclusive in which PhD student Lis Camelia studies the significance of sports heroes for multi-ethnic young adults. ‘This is a subsidised project that will kickstart the cooperation between academics and different parties in society as part of the National Academic Agenda (NWA). You have to be able to demonstrate that your research ties in with a social issue as included in the NWA and thus has an impact on society.’

'In this process we are united in a consortium that includes project leader Dr Rachel Gillett of the Faculty of Humanities of Utrecht University. We take part with a subproject on sport. This is about stories we learn about Europe and the Netherlands and who the protagonists are. We work on the assumption that many people of colour and women, although important, are not named. One of the questions is: Who are the heroes and how do they contribute to that ‘sense of home’ feeling among the youngest generations? Besides sports, one of the subprojects will also look at heroes in music (hip-hop). The consortium will furthermore research the positive didactic practices in education. The long-term objective of this project is to increase an inclusive understanding of Europe and the Netherlands in particular.’

Heroes
Together with the Mulier Institute and Radboud University, EUR’s PhD student will focus on sports: ‘We’re talking sports heroes for multi-ethnic young adults in the Netherlands and the Caribbean. Part of the project is historical, and is done by Radboud University together with social partners. Together with the Mulier Institute (Agnes Elling, Manou Anselma) we focus on today’s heroes for multi-ethnic young adults, in the big cities in particular. This can be heroes from all over the world. For young adults with an Antillean background, this could be baseball players playing in the US. But it could just as well be heroes who are revered locally.’

It all starts with a phase of drawing up definitions. ‘Currently, the focus lies on the design of the study. We intend to identify the heroes and what they mean together with the young adults. We first have to deduct from the literature who and what is included in the definition. Ultimately we expect that the study will not only end up on paper, but will take on other, creative, appearances, like a play in which young adults can participate.’

In conclusion, Van Sterkenburg would like to draw attention to an international congress about sport and discrimination on Friday, 23 June at Erasmus University. Here all the above studies will be highlighted. ‘Anyone who is interested is welcome to learn more about all the above projects about this theme and more.’

For more information:: “A Guide to Diversifying and Transforming Football Leadership”,  Onderzoek naar ras en racisme door de lens van voetbal | An interview with PhD candidate Palesa Mashigo, biography prof.dr. Jacco van Sterkenburg