Identity and Citizenship in Boxing: The Journey of Pamela Malvina Noutcho Sawa

This chapter explores the combat sport of boxing in Italy as a (contentious) discursive field where citizenship is at stake, considering the experience of long-term immigrants and second-generation athletes. To better understand the connection between boxing and Italian society, the project addresses the intersections of gender, race, nationality/ethnicity, and civic engagement. We use discourse analysis to examine the media representations of Pamela Malvina Noutcho Sawa. Pamela is a Bolognese boxer, originally from Cameroon, who obtained an Italian passport in August 2022. Pamela’s story has received coverage from local and national media. Our analysis critically deconstructs the discursive regime that shapes the image of the positive immigrant who embodies the virtues of a good citizen. In this way, we highlight how a certain discursive manipulation of race, gender, and political belonging reinforces taken-for-granted stereotypes embedded in Italian culture. Pamela is accepted as Italian because it is recognised that her way of acting citizenship guarantees the security of the local community, reproducing the ideology of merit/meritocracy, that is, a system of meanings that reveals the existence of a “colour line” in the Italian sporting field and, ultimately, white supremacy in Italian society.