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This paper concerns the performance of sport politics. We carry out a text analysis of a year-long media debate that raged in Norwegian newspapers throughout 2016. After the Medias had critiqued how the Norwegian Confederation of Sports (NIF) spends state-provided funds, the Minister of Culture questioned the alleged civil contribution from NIF and demanded change. An archival search retrieved 488 articles and 1604 pages on the matter. Performance theory clarifies the debaters' failure and success in achieving sport political legitimacy. Success was an ongoing achievement contingent upon the actors' abilities to apply broadly available representations in the pragmatics of the dispute. Drawing on Norwegian codes of equality and by polluting the image of NIF, the Minister of Culture eventually managed to reshape Norwegian sports. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sociological studies of sport have established their subject matter as significant to a wide range of sociocultural concerns. Despite a broad consensus about its global importance, however, the reasons for the particular, even ‘extraordinary’, societal importance of sport today remain deeply contested. Most studies account for it by highlighting its entanglement within a range of secular phenomena including state building, rationalization, biopolitical regulation, and the ‘controlled-decontrolling’ of bodies and affects. Occupying a more marginal position within the discipline, others focus on the religious or quasi-religious characteristics of sport. Our paper suggests that neither of these positions, on their own, is best placed to capture the nature and implications of sport’s particular centrality to social life. Proposing a new theoretical approach to the subject that places competing conceptions of what we refer to as the ‘sporting sacred’ at the center of discussion, we outline, via a reconceptualization of the writings of two major classical theorists, Durkheim and Weber, a number of contrasting modalities through which sport is prized within contemporary society. These modalities, which embrace both secular and religious phenomena, can, we suggest, provide new insight into the divergent paths along which sports are being ‘pulled’ and steered in the modern era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sport for development and peace (SDP) is a contemporary term for practices that have a long history, particularly in Canada's provincial and territorial north, and especially with Aboriginal peoples for whom the region is home. Using a postcolonial international relations feminist approach, theories of global governance and private authority, and by exploring recent literature on self-determination in the context of Aboriginal peoples, we investigate 1) the assumptions at work in attempts to "transfer" SDP programming models in the Two-Thirds World to Aboriginal communities across Canada; 2) how the retreat of the welfare state and neo-liberal policies have produced the "need" for SDP in Aboriginal communities; and 3) how efforts toward Aboriginal self-determination can be made through SDP. We argue that, taken together, these concepts build a useful foundation better understanding for the historical and sociopolitical processes involved in deploying SDP interventions in Aboriginal communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is little doubt that the globalization process has developed unevenly across time and space. This is most pronounced in the context of North Korea, one of the very few remaining communist societies, which has been isolated from the rest of the world since the end of the Korean War in 1953. This paper explores the impact of globalization on sport and physical culture in North Korea. Although North Korea categorically rejects globalization, justified by its Juche policy, its response to the globalization of sport is more differentiated, multifaceted, state controlled, and ranges from stubborn resistance to wholehearted embracement. The paper argues that North Korea's historical trajectory, national needs and interests, and the ethnic nationalism prevalent in that society shape this reaction to globalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, Shanghai has become one of Asia's major players in the bidding for, and hosting of, international sporting events. Uniquely positioned by history (e.g., China's liberalized urban node to the globalizing economy, an imbedded urban cosmopolitanism) and geopolitics (e.g., a shift toward free market domestic political economy, a growing pro-corporatist governing alliance), sporting Shanghai provides a critical site of analysis for contemporary sport-based global-localisms. In this study, we examine how local culture, global commercialism, and policy discourse intersect to "produce" the global sporting city. We conclude with a discussion of how sport in this context is manufactured not only as economic, social, and political catalyst, but also how sport policy itself represents a conjunctural city as "modernization" event. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the proposals of a ministerial advisory panel that was set up in 2000 to examine the problems confronting soccer in Northern Ireland, not least of which is that the game has been perceived to be administered by and for Ulster unionists. It is argued that although the panel made the case for a more inclusive soccer culture, which would be welcome to Irish nationalists, this advice is at odds with the central message of the Good Friday Agreement, the cornerstone of the peace process. Far from promoting a centrist political culture, the Agreement has actually increased polarization. Reflecting on wider debates on cultural diversity, the article argues that it is difficult to convince sports administrators to accept responsibility for promoting social inclusion in a political context in which difference is celebrated and sectarianism institutionalized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

National taskforces and inquiries are used extensively by governments wishing to review their involvement in sport. Underpinning these reviews are dominant ideas like "national unity," or "excellence." Ideas matter in public policy because they form the basis for framing political judgments and because their meanings are continually translated into future plans and actions (Hoppe, 1993. This study investigates the role of ideas in shaping and circumscribing the findings and recommendations emanating from a national taskforce in New Zealand. Information was gathered through interviews with Taskforce members, observations of public consultations, and analysis of submitted documents. Key ideas included notions of efficiency, competitiveness, and leadership. These ideas are discussed, focusing in particular on their contradictory/paradoxical nature and their role in (re)producing power relations. The paper concludes with future research questions and a call for more critical investigations into sport policy-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most research on global sports policy either negates or underappreciate perspectives from the Global South. This article incorporates Southern Theory to examine how Northern worldviews profoundly shape gender-specific sports policy. It highlights two dilemmas that emerge, using illustrative case studies. First, it considers questions of gender and regulation, as evidenced in the gender verification regimes of track-and-field. Then, it addresses the limits of gender and empowerment in relation to sport for development and peace initiatives' engagement with the diverse experiences and perspectives in non-Western contexts, considering them in relation to programming for women in Pacific Island countries. The article concludes with a reflection on possible contributions of Southern theory to sport sociological scholarship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper contributes to research on and theories of the state's role in Canadian sport development by examining factors that led the Alberta government to create the Alberta Sport Council, Canada's only Crown corporation with a sport mandate. The data used were collected from interviews and numerous documentary sources. The corporatism and the attribution of public status to private interest groups. Accordingly, the study identified key individuals, organizational factors, and the unique political and economic characteristics of Alberta that influenced the council's creation. The paper concludes that despite this or organization's uniqueness, it reflects the same contradictory form of sport intervention found in other Canadian governments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While research and scholarship on the dynamic interconnections between sport and health has steadily grown in the sociocultural study of sport in the past few decades, this paper focuses more directly on the politics of health within sport. Drawing on a small study of the lived experiences and understandings of health, pain/injury, risk and precaution among 12 male and female high performance youth (16-19 years of age) triathletes and three coaches, we outline the ways in which health becomes depoliticized among high performance athletes as our participants made no connection to health as a political phenomenon—within or outside of sport—or to their own right to health as members of the high performance sport community. We conclude by offering some suggestions as to why health was (and is) rendered apolitical in high performance youth triathlon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Sociology of Sport Journal is the property of Human Kinetics Publishers, Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Sociology of Sport Journal is the property of Human Kinetics Publishers, Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Sociology of Sport Journal is the property of Human Kinetics Publishers, Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Sociology of Sport Journal is the property of Human Kinetics Publishers, Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Sociology of Sport Journal is the property of Human Kinetics Publishers, Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

During the last 2 years the campaign against apartheid sport has taken a new turn, shifting from the blanket boycott of "no normal sport in an abnormal society" to a more carefully nuanced "two-track" strategy, which attempts to strengthen nonracial sport in South Africa while maintaining the international quarantine of proapartheid establishment sport. These efforts are being mounted within the highly fluid dynamic of a society-wide assault on the structures of racist domination. This paper examines ongoing changes in South African sport, the new strategy and organizations developed by the liberation movement in response to the changes, and the promise and problems of the future. It is argued that the antiapartheid campaign provides an important example of effective human intervention in the sphere of modern sport. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper the ideological relationships between the media and Australian sport are examined from a critical perspective. After outlining the contributions of political economy, structuralism, and cultural studies to the critical paradigm, we argue that the Australian media have two main ideological effects. First, they legitimate masculine hegemony, capitalist rationality, consensus, and militaristic nationalism. Second, they marginalize, trivialize, and fragment alternative ideologies of sport. We conclude by suggesting some worthwhile topics for future research and by affirming that politicizing media representations of sport is an important part of the counter-hegemonic struggle in patriarchal capitalist societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents the author's view of sport sociology. He argues that American sociology of sport is in the most unsatisfying state, both intellectually and politically. He remarks that whether or not sport sociology wastes too much energy taking stock of itself, as some would argue, complete reviews of activity in the field cannot easily be written these days in any case. The impression one gets is of a larger number of North American academicians defining themselves, at least in part, as sociologists of sport. Busily at work in a large number of university courses where what is said is largely inaudible to outsiders, they direct graduate students in papers and theses, most of which will not be published, and are published themselves as frequently in out-of-the-way places as in the visible journals of the field. The foundational hypothesis of sport sociology, stated in its simplest form, is that sport is of capital importance in the social life of societies such that of U.S. Yet what is seen when one looks at the sociological landscape of sport today is not confusion, indeed one might well wish for more of it, but a certain unremitting intellectual sameness, a dead hand of competence.

This article examines problems of transnational organizations with cultural exchange functions and their affiliation with transnational politics. It is contended that cultural exchange works best when it serves the cause of social integration despite political differences but that the political issues are as much a part of these interchanges as is social integration.

This article discusses the 1936 Olympiad, the anti-Olympics that were held in protest against it, the thrilling sporting events and good sportsmanship of the athletes, and the propaganda which the Third Reich made of the Berlin Games. It is contended that politics and sport were made inseparable by German dictator Adolf Hitler and that any international event since 1936 could never be free from political implications.

This article discusses the relationship between sport and politics in New Zealand. It has been argued that the assumption that the two are separate is fallacious and outlines the nature of the relationship. It examines the political implications of contests between the rugby football teams of New Zealand and South Africa.

This article focuses on proceedings from the fourth Olympic Academy which began with an examination of the history and philosophy of politics and athletics of ancient games. Emphasis was on current situations and the contemporary world as they relate to an understanding of the Olympic movement today.

This article focuses on sports and politics and provides an historical review indicating that the two are not separate entities. History from the time of the Ancient Greeks up to the modern Olympic Games has been reviewed.

This article focuses on Olympics with regard to the types of political interest that pervade the Games, how Africa has used the Games, and an overview of politics and sport in general.

This article discusses the improvement of Cuba's position in the international sport arena and how it has lead to the Cuban government's use of sport as a means of reinforcing, both internally and internationally, the socialist ideologies of the Marxist-Leninist regime.

This article traces the historical evidence of the interplay between sports movements and the political struggle of nations emerging from colonial rule toward the end of WWII. It also discusses political aspects related to the 4th Asian Games in Indonesia and examines Indonesia's political manipulation against Taiwan and Israel.

This article discusses the role of Olympic sports events in the promotion of nationalism, the relationship between sport, race and politics, the role of sport in social control, and the implications of politics in sport.

This article discusses the political and ideological implications of the Commonwealth Games. It has been suggested that the state uses sport to politically defuse the mass of the people. The passing of the Australian Commonwealth Games Bill has been examined in this article and it has been argued that it effectively attempts to stifle civil liberties during the Commonwealth Games.

This article discusses sport as a tool of politics. It shows how nationalism is reflected through sport and how international competitions have become an arena for ideologies and propaganda.

This article discusses the relationship between sports and international politics. Sport has been examined as an expression of diplomatic recognition and non-recognition, as a means of protest, as a vehicle of propaganda, as a means of gaining prestige, as a vehicle for international cooperation, and as a catalyst of conflict.

This article focuses on the political nature of the Montreal Olympiad in 1976. It also focuses on the Taiwan issue, the boycott problem, and political defections and propaganda. The conclusion is that as evidenced by Montreal and the preceding games, the Olympics are becoming increasingly embroiled in political disputes.

This article examines the political implications of the Olympic Games as an ideological struggle and warfare supposedly designed for peaceful competition. The close link between international politics and international sports competition is discussed with several examples from the 20th century.

This article explores the interrelationship between sport and culture and considers how sport cannot be separated from political action. Different aspects of the Olympics and at least three meanings of ideology have been discussed. It also focuses on the interplay of sports and politics, particularly as international sport might be construed to be an effect of government policy.

This article focuses on the political ramifications of sport at national and international levels. An extensive discussion on sports as an international and diplomatic tool has been included.

This article discusses the economic and political uncertainty in many nations during the period just prior to 1936 and the effects of the situation on the Olympic Games of that year.

This article examines specific incidents in the political history of the Olympic Games. Three major dichotomies: politics and sport vs. politics and the Olympic Games, nationalism vs. politics, and sport-related politics vs. non-sport-related politics, have been identified. It states that the political manipulation of the Olympics by governments has accelerated to the point where the IOC is incapable of defending the festival.

This article evaluates the state of international sport with particular reference to social and political aspects. It has been discussed that international sports competitions function as diversions from internal problems, substitutes for more intense international conflict, prestige symbols, and socialization processes.

This article traces the political history of the Olympic movement from its beginnings to the present day. The ancient Olympics and how the Olympics were revived by Pierre de Coubertin have also been discussed. It traces the major developments during the early Olympiads and the rise and fall of internationalism during the Second World War. It suggests the cold war had a distinct effect on the Olympic Games, polarizing the Games into two camps, East and West.

This article examines the relationship of sport and politics in South Africa with a detailed history of the political and sporting scene of that nation. After 23 years, the forces opposing apartheid in sport may have achieved their ultimate goal of total isolation of South Africa.

This article suggests that the modern Olympic spirit has never been free of political influence and traces the history of this situation while analyzing what this might mean for the future of international sport.

This article examines the social functions of sports in changing international relations. It has been suggested that sports have a contradictory role by generating both cooperation and conflict. It is an instrument for making the international atmosphere more favorable and in another aspect, sport can be used as a political weapon to strike an adversary or display national supremacy.

This article focuses on political questions which find a natural place for expression in a system celebrating national victory. It is the politically peripheral nature of sport which allows the Olympics to be called "apolitical." The fact that a sporting defeat will not normally be avenged by political or military reprisals does not mean that international sport has no political content.

This article relates the historical development of the era to Olympic development and indicates the failure of leaders to keep politics out of a rapidly advancing spirit of Olympisrn.

This article examines how the influence of real world politics on international sport is not a recent phenomenon and proposes that the two have maintained a symbiosis that has only become more apparent as the association has become more inextricable.

This article examines the role of the Olympic Games as an influential factor on the international scene. It focuses on the period from 1944-1976, concentrating primarily on the issues of: the evolution of the German question throughout the period, the evolution of the question of Chinese participation in the Olympics throughout the period, the questions of South Africa and Rhodesian participation in the latter phase of the period, and the role of sport federations, international organizations, and business interests in the Olympics throughout the period.

This article discusses the use of international competitive sport as a propaganda weapon. Incidents of disharmony during several past Olympics have been cited. It contends that international competitive sport has become an arena for ideologies mirroring the same tensions as are seen on the purely political plane.

This article suggests that international sport has now been completely politicized. Athletic success is not an end in itself but is used by governments either to promote their own system or to bring pressure on another system. It also suggests that improvement of interpersonal relations among athletes is only an incidental by-product of their involvement.

This article discusses the history of the presence of politics in the Olympic movement since 1896. It also illustrates that events such as the American boycott of Mexico City, the African boycott in Montreal and the boycott of the 1980 games in Moscow, have a deep history.

Sport management classrooms prepare practitioners and decision makers to work in Sport for Development (SfD). A core issue within SfD is a lack of critical racial reflexivity, particularly with racially White professionals, which maintains inequitable power structures and keeps SfD programs from reaching their intended goal of facilitating positive outcomes. This study, informed by critical Whiteness studies, aimed to understand how White undergraduate sport management students critically reflected upon race while participating in an SfD service-learning course. Analyzing written reflections completed in the course, we found that students utilized Race Evasiveness and Race Explicitness, despite course content and SfD practice explicitly focused on race. Implications for research and practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]