Tenth International Conference on Sport & Society

Abstract

This paper charts a theoretical path through the colonial systems of power that enable and perpetuate the commodification of dehumanized bodies at the intersection of sport tourism and sex tourism. Mega sporting events, such as the FIFA World Cup, Olympics and Super Bowl in the United States, are often witnessed as corresponding sites of sex tourism, with a shared motivation among some tourists to participate in both commercialized sport and sex. The paper begins by providing a brief literature review of this unique intersection, specifically focused on the commodification and consumption of the body as currency and fantasy. We then explore what others have described as the libidinal economy (Jackson, 2007; Probyn, 2000; Pronger, 1999; Sexton, 2010). This paper, then, situates the libidinal economy within a global colonial matrix of power and the structural hierarchies based on race, gender, and sexuality from a global perspective (Mignolo, 2007). We argue that sports and sex tourism contribute to a larger colonial project fueled by the predatory, neoliberal relationship between the West and Third World, and the continued dehumanization of colonized peoples (Robinson, 2002; Roy, 2007). Using the libidinal economy as a theoretical framework, we evaluate the political economy of sport and sex tourism and propose an expanded understanding of physical exploitation at this intersection. By using this new framework, this paper ultimately calls for a further empirical study that explicitly evaluates the impact of systems of sport tourism and sex tourism occurring simultaneously at national and international mega sporting events.