Stadiums of dissent: ultras, youth grievance, and informal political socialisation in Morocco

In authoritarian contexts where open dissent is dangerous and formal politics lack legitimacy, subcultural groups often become vital spaces of political expression and resistance. This article explores the political practices of Moroccan Ultras – organised football supporter groups – based on a year of ethnographic research involving participant observation, interviews, and chant analysis. Rather than depicting Ultras as simply apolitical or oppositional, the study understands them as vernacular publics whose politics emerge through performance, ambiguity, and shared risk. Their chants, rituals, and deliberate silences convert personal frustration into awareness of systemic injustice, redefine dignity as collective voice, and frame justice as a moral struggle.The article identifies four interlinked aspects of their political engagement: the emotional framing of injustice, the tactical expression of dissent under surveillance, the informal cultivation of political awareness, and the state’s varied responses, ranging from repression and monitoring to attempts at co-optation. By centreing affect, morality, and embodied practice, this research offers a new, nuanced way to interpret contentious politics in authoritarian settings.It views Ultras not as deviant or pre-political actors but as crucial participants in reimagining political life and articulating the aspirations of marginalised youth through subcultural persistence rather than organised mobilisation.