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Following the global "refugee crisis" of 2015, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) established the Refugee Olympic Team (ROT), providing opportunities for refugee athletes to compete at the 2016 and 2020 (2021) Summer Olympics. To examine the changing intertwinements between wider social dynamics and mediated constructions of refugees, this article considers the IOC's representation of the ROT around the 2020 Games. With this aim, a catalogue of articles published on the IOC's website was examined through critical discourse analysis. Four discursive themes emerged: 1. The saving, healing and transformative power of Western sporting capital and the Olympic Games; 2. The ROT as epitome of the Global North's inclusivity and benevolence; 3. Refugee athletes as offering hope and inspiration to other refugees; and 4. The neoliberal ideal that "hard work pays off" and "you can overcome everything" in and through sport. More broadly, current changes in the societal reception of refugees were evident in the IOC's communication, which appeared to assume that we have moved beyond the "refugee crisis". The IOC disseminates an "official" discourse, which elides the challenging structural conditions that refugees face after their arrival in receiving contexts, and obscures current political reluctance towards finding more long-term solutions for refugees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recreation in protected areas can greatly contribute to health and wellbeing, but there exist significant demographic disparities in protected area use across Europe and North America. Minority ethnic groups, in particular, are often underrepresented in protected areas due to a variety of cultural, economic, and discriminatory barriers. Muslims are one of the fastest growing minority ethnic communities in Western countries but have received little study in the context of protected areas. More research is therefore needed to understand protected area exclusion as experienced by Muslim communities. Through 14 in-depth interviews with Muslim community leaders in the United Kingdom, we explored the socio-cultural barriers and opportunities that contribute to the accessibility of protected areas for Muslims. As the majority of our participants were women, this study addresses the underrepresentation of diverse female voices in research on Muslims and leisure and foregrounds Muslim women as agents in their recreational lives. We found that a wide variety of factors can inhibit access, cumulatively resulting in several layers of exclusion. Primary barriers included a lack of inclusive imagery, insufficient facilities for social gathering, prior instances of discrimination, the perceived whiteness of protected areas, and unfamiliarity with these spaces. Several barriers related to the wilderness ideology that is embedded across many aspects of protected area marketing, design, and management as it does not embrace collectivist aspects of Muslim cultures. The level of "naturalness" associated with protected areas, however, did not emerge as a barrier. We also identified many opportunities, including the stewardship role of humans depicted within Islam. Lastly, we discuss the management implications for protected areas that emerge from our results. This research demonstrates that to foster a sense of belonging for Muslim communities, protected area managers must consider many socio-cultural dimensions of accessibility, holistically engage with Muslim communities, and embrace diverse worldviews relating to the human–nature relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To purchase or authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-954X.2007.00724.x Byline: Daniel Burdsey (1) Abstract: Abstract This article examines the rapid rise to fame of teenage British Asian boxer Amir Khan following his silver medal at the 2004 Olympic Games, and provides a critical discourse analysis of the way that he was subsequently constructed and represented by politicians and the media as a role model for multiethnic Britain. The analysis demonstrates that in the periods directly after both the 2004 Olympic Games and the 7 July 2005 London bombings, the majority of discourses about, and representations of, Khan were inextricably related to contemporary debates around multiculturalism, national identity, and religious extremism and/or deviance amongst young British Muslim men. This article argues that despite the ostensibly positive portrayals of Khan as an individual, a broader, more critical reading of these texts uncovers how they actually reproduce the contradictions and problems inherent to New Labour's policies on citizenship, community cohesion, the 'war on terror' and 'diversity management'. The article concludes that the almost ubiquitous configuration of Khan as a positive role model is in danger of obscuring the continued existence of discourses and practices of racism and social exclusion in contemporary Britain. Author Affiliation: (1)University of Brighton

This article seeks to dispel the myth that participation in football is anathema to British Asians. It argues that, not only has football become an increasingly popular leisure activity for [...]

The broad focus of this article is on the under-representation of British Asians in English professional football. Specifically, it concentrates on the select group of British Asians that have played, or are currently playing, professional football and examines the significance of dual ethnicity, and processes of cultural assimilation and Anglicization in this phenomenon. Emanating from an extensive period of ethnographic fieldwork and using the oral testimonies of British Asian footballers, this article highlights the fact that those who have achieved the most success have either been classified as Anglo-Asians or have underemphasized their South Asian heritage and, in some cases, actively sought to decrease the degree to which their cultural difference is apparent. Drawing on the ideas of Bourdieu, this study argues that those players who fall into these categories are more likely to possess the necessary cultural capital for breaking into professional football and for gaining acceptance within player subcultures as 'one of the lads'. Keywords: British Asians; cultural assimilation; cultural capital; dual ethnicity; football; oral testimony.

This article maps and analyses the relationship between football and black sound cultures in the UK. Employing a chronological and thematic approach, specifically, it examines the inclusion of football in post-Windrush calypsos, the appropriation of black music forms in football stadia, reggae as cultural critique of English football and British society, and the connections between transnational sounds and a diasporic footballing consciousness. Theoretically, this article draws on – and places in dialogue – Paul Gilroy's concept of the 'Black Atlantic', Josh Kun's notion of 'audiotopia' and Les Back's emphasis on 'deep listening'. This framing illuminates how music forms travel back and forth along diasporic roots and routes between Africa, the Caribbean, the United States and the United Kingdom. Critically, the article locates the relationship between football, music and race as providing the context and capacity for progressive change, and foregrounds its role as an important medium and method of cultural resistance to the marginalisations experienced by Black Atlantic diasporas and within football itself. The article concludes by looking forward, in an era of Black Lives Matter, to consider the spaces and practices of fandom and consumption that might open up as a result of listening and responding sociologically to the relationship between football and black sound cultures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The triumphal track and field performances of British distance runner, Mo Farah, at the London 2012 Olympic Games were lauded both for their athletic endeavor and for their perceived validation of the rhetoric of ethnic and cultural diversity and inclusion in which the Games were ensconced. By analyzing coverage of the athlete's achievements in mainstream British newspapers, this article presents a more complicated and critical reading of the relationship between Britishness, multiculture, the politics of inclusion and the London Games. Employing a Critical Discourse Analysis approach, the article shows that Farah was constructed and represented by the media using narratives that are familiar, palatable and reassuring to the public; and that sustain hegemonic models of racialised nationhood and dominant ideologies around sport. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper explores the perceptions of Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) at Football in the Community (FitC) organisations associated with English professional football clubs regarding developments and changes over the 25 years since their inception. Of interest was how the schemes might/might not reflect the original underpinning ethos, aims, and intended outcomes. Methodology/approach: Ten CEOs participated in interviews designed to explore their perceptions of the challenges, developments, and opportunities in the industry over 25 years. Findings: Thematic analysis revealed four main issues facing the sector: security and sustainability of delivery and funding; the importance of growth and diversification; engagement with multiple agendas and agencies; "professionalisation" of the workforce; and brand values and awareness. For CEOs, success of their schemes was measured both in terms of financial security of programmes and social impact within the community. Practical implications: The sustainability of FitC schemes is inextricably linked to the success of organisations, contributing to social policy objectives. Research contribution: Through the identification of strategic and organisational factors that have underpinned the development and outcomes of FitC, the paper addresses the gap in the literature by considering the perspectives of CEOs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2016, black former professional footballer, Howard Gayle, was awarded an MBE, in recognition of his work in anti-racist education. He rejected the accolade due to its colonial associations and the experiences of his African ancestors under the British Empire. This article analyses and theorizes the geographical, cultural, political, historical and temporal contexts and consequences surrounding this refusal. While highlighting the fluid and reciprocal spatial and temporal positionalities that guide Gayle's articulations, it argues that it is essentially through and in the local spaces and places of his home city of Liverpool – a pivotal location in the historic international slave trade – that his anti-imperial consciousness is forged and enacted. The article addresses the possibilities that emerge from demands for social and reparative justice by public figures such as Gayle, in terms of decolonial thinking, anti-racist pedagogy and their status as a source rather than an object of knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the presence and effects of racial microaggressions in English first-class cricket. Drawing on interview data with British Asian players, it not only highlights players' experiences of racism, but also identifies their tendency to downplay the repercussions of some of the forms that this prejudice takes. The analysis demonstrates that color-blind ideology is so entrenched in contemporary Western sport that its reproduction is not exclusively the preserve of white groups; it can also at times compel minority ethnic participants to endorse dominant claims that the effects of racism are overstated as well. As a consequence they are often pressured into denying or downplaying those forms of verbal discrimination which are articulated between team-mates and in a seemingly playful manner, dismissing incidents as merely "banter" or "jokes". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]