Benign nationalism at soccer's Euros

+ women's mental health harmed by abortion restrictions US Edition - Today's top story: As nativist politics surge across Europe, soccer's 'Euros' showcase a more benign form of nationalism [View in browser]( US Edition | 12 July 2024 [The Conversation] [The Conversation]( Top headlines - [How supermassive black holes grow so massive]( - [Is betting on Biden v. Trump bad for democracy?]( - [How well have you been following this week’s political news?]( Lead story As an avid soccer fan who hails from the other side of the pond, I’ll be cheering on England in the European Championship final on Sunday, expecting my hopes to be momentarily raised then dashed against the rock stars of a young – and very good – Spanish team. Win or lose, I’ll be proud of England’s performance during the monthlong competition – but it hasn’t always been that way. There was a 20-year period from around the mid-1990s when I cringed at the prospect of watching the national team. It wasn’t just the arrogance of the players at the time, but the behavior of the fans: boorish, far-right, xenophobic and violent. And it wasn’t just an “English disease”; fans from across Europe were prone to fighting police and one another, too. But as explained by Peter Rutland, who researches European nationalism at Wesleyan University, this [tournament has been different](. Of course, there have been incidents of bad behavior. But at a time when the far right has been on the march in Europe – both literally and figuratively – soccer fans have largely eschewed violent displays of ethnonationalism and instead opted for a more benign form of patriotism, getting behind teams shaped by generations of immigration. “Judging by the Euro 2024 competition, soccer has the capacity to unite more than it divides – and to promote tolerance and multiculturalism rather than division and antagonism,” Rutland concludes. [[How faith and religion drive the world. Sign up for our weekly newsletter, This Week in Religion.](] Matt Williams Senior International Editor Not your typical hooligans. Jose Breton/Anadolu via Getty Images [As nativist politics surge across Europe, soccer’s ‘Euros’ showcase a more benign form of nationalism]( Peter Rutland, Wesleyan University The most successful teams at Europe’s soccer championship comprise diverse players, often thanks to immigration. Could that be influencing fans’ views of nationalism? Science + Technology - [Supermassive black holes have masses of more than a million suns – but their growth has slowed as the universe has aged]( Fan Zou, Penn State; W. 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Anderson, University of Pennsylvania The uptick in anxiety, depression and other mental health issues happened after states enacted bans or restrictions on abortion. Economy + Business - [Will a market crash one day be pinned on the Supreme Court? An accounting expert explains why recent rulings have him worried]( Paul Griffin, University of California, Davis By injecting hidden risk into the financial statements of the listed companies monitored by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Supreme Court may have set the stage for the next recession. Politics + Society - [Odds are that gambling on the Biden/Trump competition will further reduce the presidential campaign to a horse race]( Allison M. Prasch, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Jason Kido Lopez, University of Wisconsin-Madison Overseas-based sports betting companies offer wagers in the US on who will clinch a party’s presidential nomination and which candidate will win the election. 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