You have the right to remain violent: power and resistance in the club

This study examines the aggressive commodification and corporatisation strategies experienced by a Macedonian-based club in the north-western suburbs of Melbourne. The administrative acquisition of the club by a quasi-corporate consortium colloquially referred to as the 'Silver Lining' emphasized an abated model of its cultural heritage in favour of a newly fashioned corporate identity. Further evidence obtained via fieldwork observations and interviews documents the evolution of the power relationship between the club's supporters and its administrators over a five-year period. We draw on Bhabha's construct of cultural identity and internal differentiation to analyse the expressive forms of social resistance appropriated by football (soccer) spectators/supporters as agency toward preservation of a particular socio-cultural identity.