Emerald Studies in Sport and Gender – serie

Disputes over gender, doping, and eligibility in Olympic sport are widely covered in sport studies and in the mainstream media. Less well known are the functions of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), and the threat it poses to athletes’ rights by depriving them of access to their own countries’ court systems. CAS loosely follows the model of international arbitration tribunals. As in forced arbitration outside of sport, employees – in this case, high performance athletes – sign contracts agreeing to arbitration rather than litigation as the sole means of dispute resolution. Promoting the concept of sport exceptionalism, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) justifies the power it exercises through CAS by claiming that sport must be autonomous and self-regulating, with disputes settled by specialist arbitrators. Arguments in support of this position point to lex sportiva (global sports law) as a valid legal principle in sport-related disputes, which, it is claimed, cannot be understood or resolved by non-specialists. Self-regulation works effectively to protect the Olympic industry brand by keeping disputes ‘in the family’. This critical analysis of CAS's history and functions demonstrates how athletes’ rights are threatened by the forced arbitration process at CAS. In particular, CAS decisions involving female and gender-variant athletes, and racialized men and women, reflect numerous injustices. As well as the chronic problem of CAS’s lack of independence, other issues examined here include confidentiality, lex sportiva, non-precedential awards, the closed list of specialist arbitrators, and, in doping cases, questions concerning strict liability and burden of proof.

As women’s sport continues to grow and develop there is an increasing need to critically examine the conditions in which women as athletes operate. The Professionalisation of Women’s Sport discusses the processes of professionalisation in women’s sports as distinct from, and different to, that seen in men’s sport, identifying different challenges that face the growth of women’s elite sport.Within this collection, the complex and often fragmented nature of women’s involvement across a range of sports are critically discussed. Contributions span the fields of sport sociology, sport history, sport economics and beyond, and across the varying geographical contexts of North America, Europe, Australia and South Africa. Examining American football, basketball, cricket, cycling, golf, ice hockey, tennis, rugby union and rugby league, scholars consider the emergence of professionalisation, the role of the media, and experiences in and of women’s (semi-)professional sport.The Professionalisation of Women’s Sport is an essential reference point for any student, researcher or professional interested in, or working in, elite women’s sport settings.

Gender Equity in UK Sport Leadership and Governance goes beyond the headlines to provide a timely analyses of current strategy, policy, structure, and practice relating to gender equity in the leadership and governance of sport in the UK. It brings together the expertise and empirical insights from the work of scholars who are researching in this field.Providing theoretical and historical insights, the first part of this edited collection includes chapters on intersectionality and the history of women in sport leadership and governance. The chapters in the second part explore gender equity in the UK home nations, analysing policy and practice within each home country, while problematising the complexity of a dual approach that includes devolved nation policies and UK policies. The final element draws together chapters that explore organisational practices and the gender pay gap and makes visible the everyday experiences of women working in the sector.For those working in sport and researching gender equity, this collection provides evidence-based suggestions on ways we can evidence and create change within the sector through future research and applied practice.

Over the last forty years, running has grown from a niche sport for a handful of committed club athletes into one of the Western world’s most popular pastimes. In Running, Identity and Meaning, Neil Baxter asks: What kinds of people have been drawn to running in such numbers? What do they seek from the sport? And what does running’s popularity tell us about ourselves and the society we live in today?Delving into the great paradox of running: that despite its low cost of entry and inclusive ethos, the sport remains riven by inequalities, Baxter showcases how gender, class, age and ethnicity influence whether and how different groups participate in the sport, and explores its role in the reproduction of social structure and the search for distinction. By considering running simultaneously as a technique of self-cultivation, a social field in which forms of capital and status are at stake, and an important source of meaning and identity for millions of people across the world, this book equips readers to understand the many diverse links between the sport, society, and individual identities.

In cities around the world, in parks and roadways, people are taking part in sporting charity challenges. Corporate sponsorship has transformed these events into philanthropic endeavours that bring corporate marketing strategies together with medical research and social care agendas.Despite this growth in popularity, little academic attention has paid attention to the ways in which gendered labour shapes the nature of sports-charity events. Sports Charity and Gendered Labour explores a series of questions about the meaning and politics of physical activity, and notions of gender, labour and responsibility.Drawing upon auto-ethnography, studies of major events, in-depth interviews, and analysis of social media, Sports Charity and Gendered Labour provides examples for teaching and knowledge sharing across analyses of gender, sport, leisure, health and wellbeing in ways that will have broad relevance to a range of audiences.

The global professionalisation of women’s football has gathered momentum in the twenty first century, and professional women footballers are now more prevalent and evident in cultures around the world. Despite increased professionalisation and record-breaking viewing and participation figures for women’s football, there are persistent challenges for women in the game. Professional football is now a viable career opportunity for women globally; however, as Women’s Football in a Global, Professional Era demonstrates, there are pressing issues and unanswered questions that remain in the game.In this collection, a range of scholars contribute research covering three key areas as women’s football shifts into a global, professional era: issues surrounding the historical development of professional women’s football, documentation of the lived experiences of women in an emerging professional space and, finally, discussions around commercialisation and media coverage of the sport.Women’s Football in a Global, Professional Era is an important addition to discussions on sport as work for women, and an essential reference point for students, researchers and sports professionals interested in the debates around the professionalisation of women’s football internationally.

The last decade has seen significant changes in global attitudes, policies and practices that impact the lives of trans people, but the world of sport has been slow to follow these initiatives.Contributors to this book document the formidable social-cultural and legal challenges facing trans athletes, particularly girls and women, at the global, national, and local levels, in contexts ranging from school sport to international competition. They demonstrate how proponents of trans exclusion rely on flawed or inconclusive science, selectively employed to support their purported goal of ‘protecting women’s sport’. Politicians in the US, UK, and elsewhere who have shown little interest in women or in sport exploit the issue to advance broader conservative agendas, while hostile mainstream and social media coverage exacerbates the problem.Bringing insights from sociology, philosophy, science and law, contributors present cogent analyses of these developments and explore the way forward, providing thoughtful and original recommendations for changes to policies and practices that are inclusive, innovative and democratic.

The last decade has seen significant changes in global attitudes, policies and practices that impact the lives of trans people, but the world of sport has been slow to follow these initiatives.Contributors to this book document the formidable social-cultural and legal challenges facing trans athletes, particularly girls and women, at the global, national, and local levels, in contexts ranging from school sport to international competition. They demonstrate how proponents of trans exclusion rely on flawed or inconclusive science, selectively employed to support their purported goal of ‘protecting women’s sport’. Politicians in the US, UK, and elsewhere who have shown little interest in women or in sport exploit the issue to advance broader conservative agendas, while hostile mainstream and social media coverage exacerbates the problem.Bringing insights from sociology, philosophy, science and law, contributors present cogent analyses of these developments and explore the way forward, providing thoughtful and original recommendations for changes to policies and practices that are inclusive, innovative and democratic.

With sport representing one of the last bastions of binary thinking, trans and nonbinary athletes face formidable hurdles in their struggles for inclusion, acceptance, and freedom. Trans Athletes’ Resistance: The Struggle for Justice in Sport documents and analyses individual and collective resistance initiated by trans and nonbinary athletes and allies across a range of social-cultural and geopolitical contexts, from community sport to high-performance competition.In addition to sociological investigations of global, national, and local resistance, contributors present case studies and first-person accounts of struggles to challenge structural barriers and interpersonal hostility.Challenging policy-makers' binary definitions of males and females, the dominance of the achievement model, and toxic masculinity within sporting subcultures, the book explores how trans and nonbinary athletes not only resist transphobic policies and practices but also create new models of inclusive sport.The book has important implications for gender-inclusive policy development. Contributors present new methodologies and ways of theorizing the complex relationships among sex, gender, and sexuality in the equally complex terrain of sport and physical activity.

Although social justice initiatives in education and the workplace have decades-long histories, sport has been slow to follow. In the areas of sport policies, sport practices and sport scholarship, liberal/reform approaches dominate, while the structural roots of injustice - racism, colonialism, misogyny, disablism, homophobia and transphobia - remain largely unchanged.Use and misuse of sport sciences contributes to this pattern, and the Olympic industry serves as the machine driving these forces.Applying an intersectional analysis, the book examines issues of sex/gender/sexualities, disability, Global North/Global South disparities, doping, and violence in all its forms. A discussion of action and outlaw sports as a route to empowerment is followed by an exploration of community-based initiatives and a model for physical activity that puts joy at the centre of human movement.

The ebook edition of this title is Open Access, thanks to Knowledge Unlatched funding, and freely available to read online.In a context where striving for gender equity in relation to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals seems more pressing than ever before, Sport, Gender and Development: Intersections, Innovations and Future Trajectories brings together an exploration of sport feminisms to offer new approaches to research on Sport for Development and Peace (SDP) in global and local contexts. Including postcolonial and decolonial feminist lenses by drawing upon fieldwork with organizations and individuals in Afghanistan, Uganda, Nicaragua, and India, Sport, Gender and Development reveals the complexities of development and gender discourses and how they operate on and through researchers, practitioners, and participants' bodies. Delving into a thoughtful engagement with the (dis)connections and comparisons across these diverging contexts, this book offers a critically reflexive account of what is transpiring in the transnational sport, gender and development field, while remaining sensitive to the importance of community context and local iterations. Taking up emerging and contemporary feminist issues in sport related international development, this book advances empirical, conceptual, and theoretical developments in sport, gender and development.