A Sociological Study of the Relationship between Ethnic Identity and Aggression with Emphasis on Axel-Honneth Recognition Theory

Today, football is one of the important elements in the process of socialization of social actors, especially young people; any weakness in this area can provide the ground for deviant behaviors, especially violence and aggression. Due to the prevalence of football and its wider field compared to other sports activities that bring a large number of spectators during the matches, this sport has faced more violent behavior of fans and spectators among various sports activities. Meanwhile, the extent, severity, and damage caused by ethnic demands have made ethnic issues an important issue at the level of sports, society, and even the world. The sport of football, with the competitive atmosphere it creates, encourages the formation and demarcation of rival groups, and its continuation over time strengthens and perpetuates existing polarizations. In this regard, the Tractor Club is a sports club popular and attractive to its fans and has become a social and nationalist phenomenon for them. Some of the team's fans also strongly insist on their ethnic identity, and the team's games have implicitly become a scene of protest and ethnic demands. Therefore, the growing tendency towards football, attention to the inherent characteristics of this sport, and the fact that a football team can be a symbol of a group or ethnic group influence and direct the behavior of its fans. In this regard, the present study aimed to examine the sociological relationship between the ethnic identity and aggression among supporters of the Tabriz Tractor Football Team. The theoretical framework for the research is based on the Birmingham School of Cultural Studies, the Leicester School, and the Axel Honneth Recognition Theory.  

The research method of this study is survey. The statistical population includes all the fans of the football team of Traktorsazi present in Yadegaramam Stadium in Tabriz, numbering 70,000 people, of which 400 people were selected based on Cochran's statistical formula by the purposive sampling method. A researcher-made questionnaire was used to collect data. Content validity of structural type and structural validity were used to estimate the validity of the scales, and Cronbach's alpha technique was used to measure the reliability of the measuring instruments. SPSS software was used to analyze the data. 

The theoretical and field findings of the present study confirm that ethnic identity as an important factor in the occurrence of aggressive behaviors of fans of the tractor manufacturing football team has a significant effect. In this regard, the results of the correlation between the ethnic identity variable and fan aggression showed a linear relationship between all components of ethnic identity (interest in Turkish language and literature, ethnic affiliation, interest in Turkish art and music) and aggressive components (psychological and physical aggression) in terms of aggression. The hypotheses are confirmed and the type of relationship is positive and direct. Also, the results of multivariate regression analysis indicate that the variables present in the regression model could explain 37.9% of the dependent variable changes. According to Axel Hunt's theory, it can be acknowledged that social actors are able to understand the degree of social exclusion and humiliation resulting from a lack of recognition by existing structures. In this regard, institutional and structural actions to delay the recognition and disruption and denial of the recognition of culture and art, literature, and especially language, as manifestations and main components of the ethnic identity of the actors (fans of the tractor manufacturing team) may lead to aggression and the use of violent tools by fans to prevent the reproduction of their negligence and denial of identity or rejection through such behaviors. A look at the statistics of the spectators of the Tabriz Tractor Manufacturing Team, which are in fact the most basic material and spiritual assets of this team, requires that this very valuable potential for the province's football be used properly by the relevant authorities. The presence of large and enthusiastic spectators in the matches of the tractor manufacturing team is a potential capital that, if accompanied by proper management, can become an opportunity with positive effects on managers, spectators, the professional football league, and the sports community. Accordingly, providing a suitable context for preserving and strengthening and, in Hunt's words, recognizing the language, music, literature, art, culture, history, etc. of all ethnic groups marginalized by relevant institutions, institutions, and systems seems more and more necessary to reduce and prevent this social harm.