Stadi Derby and the Securitization of Urban Public Space

Abstract

Stadi Derby is a local football match played in Helsinki, Finland appreciated for its atmosphere and excitement. Simultaneously, the negative characteristics connected to the international football fan culture have become familiar also to those living in the capital area and especially in the surroundings of the stadium. The threat of violence is visible e.g. in the media coverage reporting about the derby. All this has also effect on the way the city dwellers experience the urban public space. In our article, we ask what kind of discourses can be found concerning the relationship between Stadi Derby and the right to public space and what kind of consequences i.e. reactions these discourses create among those city dwellers not involved in the football culture. In order to understand the ways these events and the media coverage over them have effect on urban dwellers we apply securitization theory. We look for speech acts from the media coverage and analyse the ways people respond to these speech acts through material produced via Facebook and a focus group interview. The division between insiders and outsiders to the football culture is clear: The outsiders feel distress, even fear, in consequence of media materials.