Identity Politics
The Biopedagogical Potentials of Critically Exploring Intersex Concerns in the Sociology of Sports
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Annette Bromdal
Although sports sociology students may be well acquainted with media headlines categorizing intersex bodies as deviant, non-biological, different and/or non-natural when reporting on their eligibility tests to compete in female elite sports, few are familiar with what these tests involve. Fewer would know when, how and why these eligibility tests came about and who the authors of these policies were. Drawing on Joe Kincheloe’s advocacy for critical pedagogy, Valerie Harwood’s notion of biopedagogy and Nikki Sullivan’s concept of somatechnics, this analysis seeks to unpack how athletes associated with this category cannot be understood as separate from the technologies and ‘authorities’ that mark and regulate their bodily representation. This analysis, which is based on personal teaching experience with pre-service physical educators in regional Queensland, tries to put critical biopedagogy into action through a social-activist-educator-ideology by encouraging future educators to develop a critical reading of such headlines and eligibility tests, and become comfortable with exploring "messy" discourses challenging societal indoctrinations regulating and disciplining non-gender normative bodies and athletic abilities in female sports. My ambition is to inspire and encourage physical educators to take the risk of engaging students in disruptive practices exploring the inscription of power to particular bodies and abilities in sports and how they are ethically implicated in these relations of power.
Wrestling with the Self: Blood, Tears, and Identity Politics
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Amelle Margaron
In this paper, I argue that wrestling, as represented in the rings of the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), can be considered to be a theatrical performance influenced by its neoliberal social context. To do so, I will begin by explaining how wrestling and its demonstrations of excess can be a collective cathartic event. Then, I will describe how this communal spectacle can be capitalized on by the WWE corporation through the exploitation of audience identification mechanisms. Through a case study of WWE character Dean Ambrose, I will examine the emotive dimension of wrestling and the codependent relationship between audience and athlete. In order to unpack my analysis, I will draw from Roland Barthes’ concept of the “spectacle of excess” and Pirkko Markula’s application of Foucauldian theory to the sports industry (Barthes, 1957; Markula, 2014). There is no other medium quite like wrestling, strange amalgam of reality television, sporting competition, and theatre. Wrestling not only hangs in the liminal space between reality and fiction, but also wholeheartedly thrives in this confusion of authenticity. And in an age of media plagued by fake news and increasingly explicit political performers, perhaps wrestling can be the tool to help us decipher the blurred codes of reality.
Investigation on the Identities of Naturalised Players in the Hong Kong National Football Team
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Sheung Ching Yung
Race and identity study is a heated topic in football (soccer). A multi-races national team is common in many countries except East Asia. However, in the past few years, plenty of naturalised players from Africa, Europe, South America and mainland China have joined the Hong Kong(HK) national football team. As a result, it triggers heated debates among public on them. This research investigates the public arguments on interpreting the identity of naturalised players. It finds out that football fans in Hong Kong are open to the participation of naturalised players. Performance of naturalised players is the only concern. The attachment between fans and naturalised players are purely instrumental. Yet, an open attitude to the participation of naturalised players does not mean that fans admit them as Hong Konger. Fans have set up several primordial rules, including the capability on speaking Cantonese, familiarity of the HK culture, rooting in HK, be born/raised in HK, to judge the Hong Kong identity of naturalised player. Surprisingly, race is not a concern for most fans because they argue that Hong Kong is a city with lots of immigration and emigration hence it is normal to have people with different races. In the meanwhile, they also hope naturalised players to have a basic understand on the politics and laws of Hong Kong and fulfill their civic responsibility.
Contributions and Contradictions of Football in Africa: The Case of the Democratic Republic of Congo
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Tamba Nlandu
Among the giants of African football, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has had, since its first participation in continental and world competitions, its moments of glory and demise. The paradox of Congolese football is epitomized by its success during times of political dictatorship, winning two African Cup of Nations (1968 and 1974) under the Mobutu regime, and its decline during times of democratic trials, failing to either qualify for or advance beyond the group stage of CAF and FIFA competitions. Without any doubt, the DRC has always been blessed with both human and natural resources. However, in football, like many other spheres of Congolese life, these resources have tended to be mismanaged or simply squandered. As a result, fame without fortune appears to be the norm for Congolese football players loyal to their homeland. While football has tended to serve as the “opium of the people,” the players have often been left to fend for themselves leading most of them to immigrate to countries with greener football pastures. Perhaps the resurgence of the dominance of the Congolese big clubs (especially, TP Mazembe and AS Vita Club) in the continental competitions coupled with the success of the local-based national team players who have won two of the African Nations Championship titles (2009 and 2016) might be signaling a new era in Congolese football.
