Sport reveals that nation and nationalism did not loose significance in modern societies. Nations are not disappearing! Quite contrary, the global mass media-system promotes to nation and its representation a new powerful platform and new feeling-patterns of national belonging: the "empty nationalism". This specific form of transformed nationalism does not longer refer to cultural traits of national uniqueness. The "empty nationalism" is part of a world culture that produces global standards of representing the nation. Thus, in Europe ideals of warrior-nations were replaced by more refined and civilized types national we-images and emotions of belonging. As the study shows, not juts new technologies of communication but also new geopolitical realities reframing this transformation of the nation. Nowadays, the sport-coined "empty nationalism" can also be found in other area of culture. Therefore, nation and nationalism gained a kind of unplanned legitimacy.

Dr. Dieter Reicher studierte Soziologie, Volkswirtschaftslehre und Geschichte in Graz und Edinburgh. Danach war er als Assistent für Soziologie in Graz und Wien sowie als Junior-Austauschprofessor am New Yorker New City-College tätig. Seit 2008 ist er Assistenzprofessor am Institut für Soziologie in Graz.