INHDR CONFERENCE ANNOUNCEMENT:
Evaluating the Unintended Effects Of Anti-Doping
In the 15 years since the formation of the World Anti-Doping Agency, few would dispute that anti-doping efforts have changed sport. Many of these changes, such as increased testing and anti-doping education, were intended and their effects have, for the most part, been examined and evaluated. However, what have received less attention are the many unintended effects of anti-doping. Athletes now live with the stress of managing the whereabouts system and worrying about contaminated supplements and food. Journalists report on events but are aware that it could be months or years until we know who was declared the actual victor. Governments enact laws that criminalize doping and investigate athletes for sporting infractions.
Hence this conference aims to investigate, evaluate, and understand the many ways that anti-doping efforts have unintentionally changed sport. Have athletes benefited from anti-doping efforts or are their lives worse? Are sporting competitions fairer or healthier or have we simply drove athletes to more dangerous substances? What has happened to the athletes that were caught by the system? Have we compromised certain ethical principles in order to prevent doping? In many ways, we still scarcely understand anti-doping’s far reaching impact.
Under this theme the International Network of Humanistic Doping Research (INHDR) announces its 2015 conference to be held the 27th and 28th of August, 2015 at Aarhus University, Denmark. The conference will examine how, why and in what ways anti-doping efforts have changed sport and the culture of sport?
Key questions include:
- What have been the unintended consequences for athletes?
- How have ideas of anti-doping changed?
- How has anti-doping changed the culture of sport?
- Are blood passports, whereabouts reporting, and anti-doping testing helping?
- What have the consequences been for athletes who have tested positive under the new regime?
- What social, ethical, historical, and legal implications have been realized through anti-doping?
To answer such questions, we invite not only scholars from across the humanistic disciplines to share their insights as they assess how anti-doping has changed sport and athletic life but also journalists, sport administrators, and athletes. We are proud to announce that the following experts have already accepted to give keynote addresses:
- Professor Julian Savulescu, Oxford University, UK
- Professor Letizia Paoli, KU Leuven, Belgium
- Professor Verner Møller, Aarhus University, Denmark
- Dr. Paul Dimeo, University of Sterling, UK
- Ex-professional cyclist, Commercial Director Michael Rasmussen, Denmark
- Chief Executive of the Anti-Doping Authority the Netherlands, Herman Ram
- Investigative sports journalist Niels Christian Jung, Denmark
We also invite abstract submissions for consideration in parallel sessions. Abstracts should be between 350-500 words and include an author, title, and demonstrate some relation to the conference theme. Authors from any field are encouraged to present research, but the research should relate to questions in the humanities or social sciences. Abstracts should be submitted by March 1st, 2015 and emailed to avc@sport.au.dk
Check www.doping.au.dk for latest updates. We look forward to seeing you in aarhus on august 27th and 28th, 2015.
John Gleaves & Ask Vest Christiansen
INHDR managers
