Highly uneven collection of texts on intersectionality in sport studies

Greta Bladh
Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Mid Sweden University

The anthology Not Playing Around: Intersectional Identities, Media Representation, and the Power of Sport, edited by Andrew M. Colombo-Dougovito, Tracy Everbach and Karen Weiller-Abels, is a collection of texts covering sporting spaces, and the ways in which these both enable and disable agency (section I), black athlete activism (section II) and inclusion/exclusion regarding transgender and disabled athletes (section III).

Although an interesting read, and perhaps due to its composition of being a compilation of texts written by different authors, what is said to be critical, intersectional and theoretically driven, is not evenly dispersed throughout the different chapters. For instance, while some chapters are more descriptive, such as the text by Alison R. Tsuchida and Nathan M. Murata regarding High school athletes with disabilities, which isn’t a research paper per se, but a description of an inclusive interscholastic basketball program,  Joshua D. Rubin’s chapter is a theoretical joyride of “The Politics of Being in the NFL Rulebook” (p. 45), where the rulebook is a “…document that hinges on a situated theory of being – a sporting ontology.” (p. 45). Here the rulebook is not just a book of rules and regulations, but an agent of reality, and as such, has political consequences, as the human football player is not the sole subject of agency, but rather, an object among others.

However, when referring to intersectionality, it is done in conjunction with merely mentioning that two transwomen being targeted within one of the legal cases covered in the material were black. Surely, being black and transgender calls for an intersectional analysis, but there is where it ends, with the call.

While Rubin’s text almost leaves you with a philosophical hangover, other chapters fail to operationalize the theoretical perspective they’ve claimed to be committed to, namely intersectionality. This is best illustrated in Paolo Lucattini’s chapter “Migrant children with disabilities in Italian schools. Educational and sport-related experiences”. The title of the chapter would entail an intersectional approach regarding migrant children with disabilities, and the author do emphasise the importance of examining the “double-belonging” of these children (p. 261). However, in reality, the chapter refers to two different studies, one including children with disabilities and another one including migrant children, and as such, no study that simultaneously takes an account of children with both disability and having a migrant background. Lucattini actually admits later in the text that “…this research does not fulfil the central desire of this contribution as it does not analyse the double belonging of young people…” (p. 264), so why confuse the reader in the first place? Additionally, as with the preceding chapters, this one is also followed by a written response from someone in the community, but the response in this case isn’t written by a migrant child or a child with disabilities, but by a coach describing an athlete.

The lack of intersectional analysis within a proclaimed intersectional approach is unfortunately visible elsewhere, such as in Vincent Peña’s “Fairness without the inclusion. A critical discourse analysis of trans-exclusionary sports bans. Normative assumptions regarding transgender and inclusion”. The chapter presents a critical discourse analysis of media representation of two legal decisions in the US regarding the inclusion of transgender athletes and the author underscores the importance of using an intersectional perspective in his study, and the impossibility “…to separate issues of gender from race, class, ability or other social identities” (p. 207-208). However, when referring to intersectionality, it is done in conjunction with merely mentioning that two transwomen being targeted within one of the legal cases covered in the material were black. Surely, being black and transgender calls for an intersectional analysis, but there is where it ends, with the call.  Peña does not explicate the ways in which race and gender identity have an intersectional effect in this particular case. Purely stating the convergence of racial identity and gender identity does not make for an intersectional analysis. Further, Peña adheres to the practice of reflexivity and positionality, clearly stating that he is a straight, cisgender man. However, simply stating one’s social position does not per definition mean being reflexive. To be reflexive entails reflecting on the ways in which one’s own social position may have had an effect on the research process. As such, stating you’re a straight cisgender without reflecting on methodological consequences, is not interesting, just self-righteous.

Besides being marvelled by the ontology of a rulebook in the hands Joshua D. Rubin, the chapter “A “permissible Prejudice”: An Exploration of the Systemic Ableist Barriers to Sport and Leisure Activities for Disabled People” written by Andrew M. Colombo and Suzanna Rocco Dillon, is well worth the read. By means of conducting a thematic meta-synthesis of published peer-reviewed articles concerning disabilities and sport, the authors put forth an important interjection not only regarding sports as such, but also the research field regarding sport and disability. For one, as sport is seen as an arena for the display of physical prowess, a playing field where the most abled bodies win (according to the norm of the ideal body), the discrimination of those seen as less abled becomes naturalized. Secondly, within the material of published research analysed, white males were predominant as research participants, leaving voices of women and other social groups mostly unheard and leaving the double oppression visible through an intersectional perspective untold. The end sentence of the response written by John Loeppky summarises it well, “Parasport is problematic, but that’s largely a function of our wider ableist notions of what a disabled body can and should be able to do.” (p. 134).

In the introduction the editors write that the collection of texts is meant for the academic community, but they hope that it also applies for a broader audience (p. 7). The ambition to present an anthology palatable beyond academic readers can be seen in that, except for the introduction, each chapter ends with a response from a member (more or less) of the community of which is of concern, an interesting take and a way to situate an academic text in an everyday context. However, after having read through the different chapters, I would say that some of these would fit an academic audience, and unfortunately, some would not. That said, one thing that the various texts have in common, and do with excellence, is emphasizing the power of sport, that being an athlete and participating in a sport is not just to be playing around, as the circumstance of the play isn’t mere play, it is political.

Copyright © Greta Bladh 2026