Call for Papers | “Sport, ‘hegemony’ and ‘rebellion’ (from a Scandinavian horizon)”, Special Issue of Sport in Society | Call ends June 15, 2020

Guest Editors:
Jesper Andreasson and Bo Carlsson
Linnaeus University

Foucault, as well as feminism and feminist theory more broadly, has been used effectively to dissect and analyze power, power relations, and domination in sport. These lessons are an important inspiration for the rationale of this proposal. However, we will introduce and employ the concept of hegemony as a critical horizon. In this respect, the work of Gramsci (1975, 2012) and, thus, the focus on hegemony and hegemonic cultures, will stand as the overarching theoretical inspiration for the development of this special issue.

By stressing that power and domination have to be maintained by more than brute force and economic domination, such power relations and, thus, the “common consent”, must be normatively reproduced and secured through a process of “negotiations” or encapsulations.  Still, the dominating groups have many advantages in directing social values and controlling institutions in a hegemonic manner. In this respect, cultural leadership and cultural hegemony replace direct force as the major means of exercising control and domination, which means that the Gramscian perspectives direct our attention towards culture and the ideological superstructure. Thus, forms of popular culture, like sport, stand as crucial social, cultural, and moral arenas in which social values and relations are molded, exemplified, reproduced or challenged. In this perspective, a “Gramscian horizon” will support the progress of this special issue.

In addition to focusing on hegemony in terms of power and dominance, this special issue will also host questions related to rebellion, disobedience, and non-compliance, as both a supplement and a contradiction to conformity, among other things. Rebellion is a relatively neglected concept or point of inquiry.

By putting the subject in a Scandinavian context, the issue will have a unique and exclusive status and position: as a wide-ranging analysis of hegemonic cultures in Scandinavian sports.

With the presented rationale as our motivation, we will for instance encourage submissions such as:

• • • Masculinity or femininity as a normative and cultural paradigm, as well as opposition by alternative lifestyles and values;
    • Global – commercial – brands’ impact and cultural dominance in urban/rural settings;
    • The progress and influences of the Scandinavian sports model as a “monopoly” and cultural/organizational capital;
    • The cultural hegemony of PE programs;
    • Immigration and the tradition of sport and outdoor activity in Scandinavia;
    • Resistance or opposition to normative and formal rules and virtues, in Scandinavian sport in general;
    • The firm belief in anti-doping in Scandinavian sports, and its normative – moral –impregnation;
    • The ‘Americanization’ of sports competition and sports cultures… versus the European sports model;
    • The hegemony of hegemony in sport sciences.

Of course, we will accept other subjects, related to the aim, as candidates for this special issue.

Time schedule and review process

Abstracts must be submitted by electronic mail to both guest editors before the end of June 15, 2020. For accepted abstracts, first draft should be delivered in February 2021. Final manuscript should be submitted in October-November 2021. 

Send proposals/abstracts to Jesper Andreasson (jesper.andreasson@lnu.se) and Bo Carlsson: (bo.u.carlsson@lnu.se).