TY - JOUR

T1 - Nicolas Anelka and the Quenelle Gesture

T2 - A Study of the Complexities of Protest in Contemporary Football

AU - Ervine, Jonathan

N1 - 2017 Taylor & Francis. This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Taylor & Francis via the DOI in this record.

PY - 2017/9

Y1 - 2017/9

N2 - Several decades on from Tommie Smith and John Carlos’s iconic Black Power salute at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, sociologists such as Douglas Hartmann and Ben Carrington argue that contemporary debates about sport, race, and protest are becoming ever more complicated. Within this context, the quenelle salute given by footballer Nicolas Anelka whilst playing for West Bromwich Albion in December 2013 merits analysis. The controversial and complicated gesture led to disciplinary action from the Football Association and his club, and ultimately to the end of his playing career. Due to its association with controversial French comedian Dieudonné, the quenelle is widely seen as anti-Semitic, although some argue that it is merely anti-system. Despite this potential ambiguity, it will be shown that the quenelle remains a protest gesture. In order to interpret Anelka’s actions, it is important to examine the quenelle’s roots and when he performed the gesture. Such analysis needs to be placed within the context of contemporary footballers’ engagement (or lack of engagement) with socio-political issues, and provides a means of assessing the relationship between football, politics, and protest in contemporary Europe.

AB - Several decades on from Tommie Smith and John Carlos’s iconic Black Power salute at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, sociologists such as Douglas Hartmann and Ben Carrington argue that contemporary debates about sport, race, and protest are becoming ever more complicated. Within this context, the quenelle salute given by footballer Nicolas Anelka whilst playing for West Bromwich Albion in December 2013 merits analysis. The controversial and complicated gesture led to disciplinary action from the Football Association and his club, and ultimately to the end of his playing career. Due to its association with controversial French comedian Dieudonné, the quenelle is widely seen as anti-Semitic, although some argue that it is merely anti-system. Despite this potential ambiguity, it will be shown that the quenelle remains a protest gesture. In order to interpret Anelka’s actions, it is important to examine the quenelle’s roots and when he performed the gesture. Such analysis needs to be placed within the context of contemporary footballers’ engagement (or lack of engagement) with socio-political issues, and provides a means of assessing the relationship between football, politics, and protest in contemporary Europe.

KW - Anelka

KW - quenelle

KW - France

KW - racism

KW - anti-Semitism

U2 - 10.1080/09523367.2017.1359161

DO - 10.1080/09523367.2017.1359161

M3 - Article

VL - 34

SP - 236

EP - 250

JO - The International Journal of the History of Sport

JF - The International Journal of the History of Sport

SN - 0952-3367

IS - 3-4

ER -