{"title":"Retheorizing the Cultural Politics of Sport After a Decade of Activism, Populism, and Polarization","authors":"Douglas Hartmann","doi":"10.1177/01937235241249364","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/01937235241249364","url":null,"abstract":"This article details three developments of the last decade that have had significant effects on the cultural status and sociopolitical functioning of sport in the United States: (1) an unprecedented wave of sport-based protest and athlete activism; (2) new norms and conventions in the sporting establishment for dealing with athletic protest and social issues, especially with respect to media coverage and commentary; and (3) recent Right-wing ethnonationalist engagements with sport, including targeted criticism of both activist athletes and sport as well as populist mobilizations around sport. I summarize these developments and argue that they have made social issues in, and the symbolic significance of, sport more explicit, contested, and polarized than in earlier eras. This new era of contestation and polarization, in turn, has destabilized longstanding cultural norms and ideals about sport and its relationship to politics and social change. While questions remain about how lasting these changes will be, I suggest these new conditions and the cultural politics that come with them call for a reinvigorated critical, dramaturgical theory of sport—one which sees sport as a site of ongoing social struggle that has public meaning and symbolic significance well beyond the boundaries of sport itself.","PeriodicalId":511933,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Sport and Social Issues","volume":"42 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-05-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140972904","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Experiences, and Effects, of Racial Mistreatments in the Lives of Black Male Collegiate Football Players: A Qualitative Analysis","authors":"J. A. Walsh, Trent A. Petrie, Randi Jackson","doi":"10.1177/01937235241239319","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/01937235241239319","url":null,"abstract":"Black male college athletes historically have endured racial mistreatment, particularly at Predominantly White Institutions (PWIs). Yet research examining how these athletes, particularly football players in Power Five conferences, experience such mistreatments and the effects they have on their psychological health and well-being has been sparse. Thus, we interviewed 13 current Black male college football players to document their experiences. Through reflexive thematic analysis, we determined that the athletes (a) believed that football defined and limited them, (b) felt misunderstood and isolated on campus, (b) were dehumanized and criminalized, and (d) were physically and psychologically exhausted from chronic racial mistreatments. There remains a clear need for clinical, policy, and systemic changes to support the mental health needs of Black male college athletes.","PeriodicalId":511933,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Sport and Social Issues","volume":"52 22","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140656489","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Glitterati and Grit: The Perils and Possibilities of Sports Mega-Event Research","authors":"Jules Boykoff","doi":"10.1177/01937235241247038","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/01937235241247038","url":null,"abstract":"Amid the whirling swirl of overlapping global crises—from extreme inequality and climate change to unaccountable elite power and securitized violence at the international and domestic levels—sport studies may, on their surface, appear superfluous. However, this article argues that critical academic scholarship on sports mega-events like the Olympic Games and soccer World Cup can, due to these events’ cultural power and global scope, be an effective way to simultaneously address the socio-structural problems that mark the 21st century. In this article, I argue that research on the cultural politics of sport can wedge open discursive space to challenge the hegemonic normative order and to potentially reap material gains from below. To that end, I delineate possible research avenues that sports mega-events stimulate, explicating the leverage they could achieve. Along the way, I argue for doing research and writing that is explicitly political. Last, leaning on recent examples of scholarship in sport studies and beyond, I assert the importance of concept building at the theoretical middle-level as well as writing critical descriptive histories.","PeriodicalId":511933,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Sport and Social Issues","volume":" 35","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140688139","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Black U.S. Military Affiliated Perspectives on Sport Media's Coverage of Racial Representation and Athlete Activism","authors":"P. Crowe, Adam Love, Guy Harrison","doi":"10.1177/01937235241246231","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/01937235241246231","url":null,"abstract":"Black U.S. military affiliated sport fans hold a unique place in society, as their multiple identities (i.e., racial and career) may possess conflicting elements. Militarism preaches nationalism, meritocracy, and bootstrapism, whereas Black sport activism questions if these “American” values extend to people of color. The current study interviewed Black military affiliated individuals ( N = 10) to understand their perceptions on nationalism and racism within the landscape of contemporary sport activism. The protests initiated by Colin Kaepernick of the National Football League, who took a knee during the pregame national anthem, was a focal point for discussion with the participants. Three main themes were identified in the interviews: (a) protectors of the first amendment, (b) the “right” and “wrong” way to protest, and (c) new racism and color blindness in sport. This study allows a group that is not often studied to voice their perceptions of nationalism and racism in the context of sport activism.","PeriodicalId":511933,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Sport and Social Issues","volume":"27 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140708802","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Laura J. Wernick, Derek Tice-Brown, Yannick Kluch, T. Newman, Lauren Shute, Mackenzie P. Lerario, Jessica Vidette Harrison
{"title":"Policing Gender and Sexuality in High School Sports: The Mediating Impact of Hearing Anti-LGBTQ + Language on High School Athletes’ Self-Esteem Across Gender Identity, Sexual Orientation, and Race","authors":"Laura J. Wernick, Derek Tice-Brown, Yannick Kluch, T. Newman, Lauren Shute, Mackenzie P. Lerario, Jessica Vidette Harrison","doi":"10.1177/01937235241239322","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/01937235241239322","url":null,"abstract":"Participation in sport is often assumed to promote the healthy development of youth. However, research suggests that gender and sexuality policing in sports negatively impacts the self-esteem of LGBTQ + youth. Using moderated mediation analyses, findings suggest that hyper-surveillance and policing of sexual and gender norms, specifically masculinity, through the use of anti-LGBTQ + language in sport not only marginalizes LGBTQ + individuals, but can harm all youth. Among straight cisgender youth, the conditional direct effect of playing sports on self-esteem was positive for only girls, across race, indicating a positive moderated mediation for girls. The positive effect of playing sports on self-esteem had a comparatively lower effect for white boys, when mediated by the frequency of hearing anti-LGBTQ + language. Implications are discussed.","PeriodicalId":511933,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Sport and Social Issues","volume":"44 16","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140771631","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Emily L. Winter, Aarti P. Bellara, Melissa A. Bray, Rebecca M. Puhl, Alan S. Kaufman, Sierra M. Trudel, Tamika P La Salle-Finley
{"title":"Fat Phobia Among Youth Sport Coaches","authors":"Emily L. Winter, Aarti P. Bellara, Melissa A. Bray, Rebecca M. Puhl, Alan S. Kaufman, Sierra M. Trudel, Tamika P La Salle-Finley","doi":"10.1177/01937235231223988","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/01937235231223988","url":null,"abstract":"Body weight is a common reason youth face stigma, yet it has received little attention from athletic coaches working closely with youth of diverse sizes. The present study assessed weight bias in middle and high school athletic coaches ( N = 320) via a survey of demographic characteristics and explicit weight bias ( Fat Phobia Scale-Short Form). Results indicate moderate levels of bias ( M = 3.44, SD = 0.42), with mean scores slightly lower compared to general community samples, yet higher than other specialized groups, and not varying based on the gender of the coach, the gender of the athletes coached, or the type of sport. Psychometric properties of the Fat Phobia Scale-Short Form were assessed through confirmatory factor analysis, suggesting a one-factor model as too simplistic. Implications for future research on this topic are explored, noting the importance of coaches understanding biases and the implications of bias on coaching practices.","PeriodicalId":511933,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Sport and Social Issues","volume":"36 46","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-01-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139442702","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Hannah Kettley-Linsell, J. K. Coates, Gemma Witcomb
{"title":"“It Doesn’t Matter How You Identify, You Can Still Skate With Us”: Gender Inclusivity in Women's Flat Track Roller Derby","authors":"Hannah Kettley-Linsell, J. K. Coates, Gemma Witcomb","doi":"10.1177/01937235231223987","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/01937235231223987","url":null,"abstract":"Women's flat track roller derby is a grassroots full-contact sport underpinned by an explicit gender policy stating that any self-identifying woman can play, including those who are transgender and gender diverse (TGD). Adopting a queer-feminist lens, this research examined attitudes toward and experiences of gender inclusivity in the sport from the perspective of cis and TGD athletes in the United Kingdom. Reflexive thematic analysis, drawing on survey (n = 153) and interview (n = 20) data, examined how roller derby offers a space accepting of different identities; its underpinning principles surrounding body positivity and how it is perceived a social movement, involving a community of individuals sharing values of equality, diversity and inclusion. This research shows that an inclusive rhetoric surrounding gender not only engages TGD individuals in sport but offers a space for marginalised and alternative identities to participate together.","PeriodicalId":511933,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Sport and Social Issues","volume":"38 15","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-01-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139382329","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Skateboarding and the Ecology of Urban Space.","authors":"Brian Glenney, Steve Mull","doi":"10.1177/0193723518800525","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0193723518800525","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Skateboarding poses a unique case study for considering the place of sport in human activity. The bulk of skateboarding scholarship argues that skateboarding is largely a subversion of rule governance, a view difficult to square with common and popular rule-governed skateboarding competitions, now including the Olympics. We attempt to resolve this tension by arguing for a kind of pluralism: skateboarding's engagement in rule-governed competition is distinctly subversive, yielding the claim that skateboarding is both sport and subversion. This pluralism is examined in an \"ecological\" framework of emergent activities defined by push-pull interactive relationships between skateboarders and their environment that change the meaning of their spaces-whether domestic, urban, or competitive-to spaces that are both wild and spontaneous. We conclude with reflections on how skateboarding provides understanding of sport in the space of ecological meaning.</p>","PeriodicalId":511933,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Sport and Social Issues","volume":"42 6","pages":"437-453"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2018-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/0193723518800525","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"36792603","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Noortje van Amsterdam, Inge Claringbould, Annelies Knoppers
{"title":"Bodies Matter: Professional Bodies and Embodiment in Institutional Sport Contexts.","authors":"Noortje van Amsterdam, Inge Claringbould, Annelies Knoppers","doi":"10.1177/0193723517708904","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0193723517708904","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Bodies are always present in organizations, yet they frequently remain unacknowledged or invisible including in sport organizations and sport management research. We therefore argue for an embodied turn in sport management research. The purpose of this article is to present possible reasons why scholars have rarely paid attention to bodies in sport organizations; to offer arguments why they should do so; and to give suggestions for what scholarship on bodies and embodiment might look like using various theoretical frameworks. Using the topic of diversity as an example, we explore what insights into embodiment and bodily practices the theoretical frameworks of Foucault, Bourdieu, Merleau-Ponty and Butler have to offer researchers and how these insights may lead to better understandings of organizational processes in sport.</p>","PeriodicalId":511933,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Sport and Social Issues","volume":"41 4","pages":"335-353"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2017-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/0193723517708904","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"35387425","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}