Special Issue Editors
- Bo Carlsson, Malmö University
- Daniel Svensson, Malmö University
As a prompt observation, questions regarding ‘authenticity in sport’ have regularly – rather randomly and unconnectedly – dealt with e.g. athletes’ experiences during performance, the morality in doubtful enhancement devices, cyberathletes, motives in adventure and lifestyle sport, the blend of cultural and sport event, or the transition of work skills to sport (e.g. Brevik 2010a; 2010b; 2020; Magdalinski 2008; Bedná 2014; Holowchak and Reid 2011; Hurych 2009; Jenny et al. 2017; Jonasson and Thiborg 2010; Zhang and McDowell 2020; Ronkainen et al. 2015; Parens 2005; Malloy et al. 2007; Lidström and Carlsson 2023; Wheaton and Brown 2003; Salome 2010; Rickley-Boyd 2012; McCartney and Osti 2007; Carlsson et al. 2022). But rather unexpectedly, individual studies related explicitly to authenticity in sport are not as frequent as one might assume. And, to stress, systematic inquiries seem to be scarce albeit the subject’s significance, as well as academic challenges.
Nonetheless, there are so many entries for sports scholars to handle the question of authenticity, theoretically as well as empirically, in a substantial and challenging manner, which, fittingly, stand as the basic motive for this Special Issue. For instance, as a start and as a basic reflection, the motto ‘citius, altius, fortius’ has constantly worked as an instrumental and normative source for the progress of sport. In that respect, and in line with the aspiration to improve results and records as well as training methods, sports contests in contemporary society have become increasingly dependent on technical development, and thus, on tools and equipment. These technical innovations can be observed in athletes’ equipment from smoother running shoes and wet suits to fiberglass poles, carbon fibre bikes, and contests in ‘virtual reality.’ Hence, emotionally, what does these technical progresses mean for the experience of ‘a sense of authenticity’? In addition to the technification process, the urbanization of society has also affected the progress of sport and its current settings. Today we find sport in the cities that regularly have been held in nature and/or in rural areas. In the long run, the spaces in which sport takes place will have gradually altered indoor venues, i.e., the indoorization of sport. Pursuing our mission and quest with this CfP, what will a transfer of ‘locality’ mean to the experience of sport regarding authenticity? Or is even the question of, and thus, the search for ‘authenticity, an obsolete question, and a ‘non-quality’ – i.e., not desired – in current images and experiences of sports?.
Accordingly, will the progress of novel sports and rational training methods, as well as the alteration and adaption of traditional and contemporary sports, change our understanding and feelings for sport, regarding the virtue of authenticity? On top, what is an authentic sport’s experiences, and has it, or will its ‘phenomenology’ change in contemporary society, due to sport in transition?
Theoretically, authenticity has in general been expressed broadly through form and design, the use and functions, or traditions and techniques as well as the location and setting, and thus, regarded and valued in accordance with, e.g., genuineness, realism or uniqueness as well as the faithfulness to the craft, art or skills. Hence, there are several philosophers in history, from Plato and Nietzsche to Kierkegaard, Heidegger and Sartre, who have discussed the possibility to face authenticity, in relation to mundane experiences, religious life, cultural events or, in general, being true to human life or the self.
In this matter, and very early, the Frankfurt School, in addition to its major political concerns, worried about the deterioration of culture, and thus, the distortion of authentic life and aesthetic values in modern society. In consequence, Horkheimer and Adorno analysed the decay of culture and civilisation in Western societies and found it hard to cope with the wide-ranging industrialization and vulgarization of culture, due to the mass psychosis, the propaganda industry, the mass culture, and the entertainment industry. In addition, subsequent concepts in sociology and cultural studies, like ‘McDonaldization,’ ‘Hollywoodization,’ and ‘Disneyfication,’ have later added judgements to this general concern and cultural criticism. Consequently, in a culture of mass-production, standardization and unification, the fulfilment of authenticity becomes harder or even, practically, unattainable… or, not? Or, alternatively, an obsolete concern, in sport as well as in society in general.
Yet, notwithstanding the serious cultural criticism and doubts inthe traditions of the Frankfurt School, the virtue, the striving, and the search for authenticity has endured as a praised and desirable object and aspiration. Naturally, this desire, as well as its philosophical and existential foundation, ought to be related to sport in a substantial as well as empirical manner, due to the mixture of technology, urbanization and indoorization of sports, that will influence our conceptualisation and the ratio in sport, and thus, the question of authenticity.
In spite of other potentials or merits, sport has been a crucial part of the commodification of society as well as the decontextualization of nature and social life. However, at the same time individuals might become aware of the body through sport, and thus, humans’ relations to nature and its boundaries and potentials, and thus generate spontaneous and indefinable feelings of authenticity. Still, due to technology, the feelings of authenticity could be mass-produced and become repetitive and thus challenging.
Baudrillard adds substance to this reasoning by the concept of ‘simulacra’ and his radical thesis that our reproductions of reality (‘virtual reality’), due to that technologic development, paradoxically, can be comprehended and handled as more real than reality. In this respect, sport stands as the perfect arena – and subject – to demonstrate and analyze this complexity, and thus, the intrinsic dialectics of authenticity and simulacra.
This Call would like to use the opening and sketchy diagnosis of ‘sport in transition’ as an impetus to reflect on reality, authenticity and simulacra, and invite original and critical contributions that will deal, notably, with this exciting, albeit challenging, subject. The articles can be related to athletes’ experiences of authenticity, new sport’s phenomenology in relation to values in traditional sports, the sportification of crafts and skills, the marketing of sports due to values, the eventification of sport, supporter culture, nature vs. equipment, the reasons of consuming current sports, the sport(ification) vs. ‘sport culture’, the characters in sport representations (i.e. EA-sports), virtual sports, extreme sports, and the search for ultimate physical tests/difficulties.
To emphasize, the focus – i.e., the quest for, the test of, or the conceptualization of authenticity in sport (vs. e.g., simulacra) – must be targeted and/or challenged in and by all these possible subjects.
Important dates
- Call for abstracts (CfP) opens October 1, 2026.
- Abstract submission deadline: January 31, 2027.
- Acceptance of abstracts: Mars 15, 2027.
- First manuscript: January 15, 2028.
- Review/feedback April/May 2028
- Final manuscripts: September 15, 2028.
Submission of abstracts
Send the abstract to daniel.svensson@mau.se before January 31, 2027. Abstracts must be clearly written in English and be at a maximum of 300 words, excluding the title and author(s), and should be accompanied ny a short author(s) bio.
References
Bedná, M. 2014. “Sport and Authenticity.” Journal of Human Sport and Exercise 9 (1): 201-209.
Breivik, G. 2020. “The Sporting Exploration of the World; Toward a Fundamental Ontology of the Sporting Human Being.” Sport, Ethics and Philosophy 14 (2): 146-162.
Breivik, G. 2010a. “Being-in-the-Void: A Heideggerian Analysis of Skydiving.” Journal of Philosophy of Sport 37 (1): 29-46.
Breivik, G. 2010b. “Trends in Adventure Sport in a Post-Modern Society.” Sport in Society 13 (2): 260-273
Carlsson, B., I. Lidström, and L. Yttergren. 2022. “STIHL Timbersports® and the
Reconceptualization of Modern Sport in the Light of Decontextualization and
Eventification of Forestry Work.” Social Sciences 11: 115.
Holowchak, M. A., and H. L. Reid. 2011. Aretism: An Ancient Sport Philosophy for the Modern World. Lanham: Lexington Books.
Hurych, E. 2009. “Martin Heidegger and Some Ontological and Phenomenological Aspects of Outdoor Activities Sport,”Journal of Outdoor Activities 2 (1): 12-29.
Jenny, E. S., R. D. Manning, M. C Keiper, and T. W. Olrich. 2017. “Virtual(ly) Athletes: Where eSport Fit Within the Definition of ‘Sport’.” Quest 69 (1): 1-18
Jonasson, K., and J. Thiborg. 2010. “Electronic Sport and its Impact on Future Sport,” Sport in Society 13 (2): 287-299.
Lidström, I., and B. Carlsson. 2023. “A Diagnosis of Sportification and Indigenization in the History of Sami’ Lassoing.” In Sport, Performance and Sustainability, edited by D. Svensson. E. Backman, S. Hedenborg and S. Sörlin. 86-105. London: Routledge.
Magdalinski, T. 2008. Sport, Technology and the Body: The Nature of Performance. London: Routledge.
Malloy, D. C., R. Kell, and R. Kelin. 2007. “The Spirit of Sport, Morality, and Hypoxic Tents: Logic and Authenticity.” Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism 32 (2). https://doi.org/10.1139/H07-013
McCartney, G., and L. Osti. 2007. “From Cultural Events to Sport Events: A Case Study of Cultural Authenticity in the Dragon Boat Races.” Journal of Sport & Tourism 12 (1): 25-40.
Parens, E. 2005. “Authenticity and Ambivalence: Toward Understanding the Enhancement Debate.” Hastings Cent. Rep. 35: 34–41. https://doi.org/10.1353/hcr.2005.0067
Rickley-Boyd, J. M. 2012. “Lifestyle Climbing: Toward Existential Authenticity.” Journal of Sport & Tourism 17 (2): 85-104.
Ronkainen, N. J., O. Tikkanen, M. Littlewood, and M. S. Nesti. 2015. “An Existential Perspective on Meaning, Spirituality and Authenticity in Athletic Careers.” Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health 7 (2): 253-270.
Salome, L. 2010. “Constructing Authenticity in Contemporary Consumer Culture: The Case of Lifestyle Sport.” European Journal for Sport and Society 7 (1): 69-87.
Zhang, Y., and M. L. McDowell. 2020. “Climbing Dumbarton Rock: An Exploration of Climbers’ Experiences on Sport and Heritage from the Perspective of Existential Authenticity.” Leisure/Loisir 44 (4): 547–567.
