Special Issues Editors
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- Tom Fabian, University College Dublin, tfabian@ucd.ie
- Bryan C. Clift, North Carolina State University, bcclift@ncsu.edu
- Győző Molnár, University of Worcester, g.molnar@worc.ac.uk
The dawn of Trumpism, ushered by Donald Trump’s first presidential campaign in 2015, represents an extension of a divisive period in American politics amid a global reactionary and populist age. In the last decade, many nations have grappled with an intensified reactionary and at times populist politics – including India, Hungary, England, France, Germany, Brazil, and the USA, to name a few – and the divisions they sew under iterations of ‘unity.’ These divisions have become common fodder in mainstream and social media and, thus, the ways in which politics and political leaders co-opt popular culture is becoming more evident. In recent years, research studies have investigated the articulations of populism in music (Caiani & Padoan 2023; Dunkel & Schiller 2024), art (Schober 2019; Messham-Muir & Cvoro 2022), and sport (Clift & Tomlinson 2021; Fabian, Andrews, & Clift 2023). Given the popularity of sport, it is clear to see why strongman political leaders (e.g., Bolsonaro, Orbán, or Trump), who harken to hegemonic masculine forms, have looked to the sporting realm as a means of augmenting their popular appeal. However, beyond sport, in the broader realm of physical culture – encompassing traditional games, fitness and calisthenics, dance forms, and recreational activities – little has been explored or scrutinized. Given the significance of physical activity, sport, recreation, and popular culture to the contemporary zeitgeist, it is surprising that the dynamic and generative interplay between physical culture, masculinity, and political leadership has, up to this juncture, received limited scholarly attention in sport studies, cultural studies, or political science.
Indicative (but not exhaustive) list of preferred topics:
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- Representations of masculinity and physical culture within political leadership
- The appropriation of physical culture in political rhetoric
- Examples of gendered nationalism in physical cultural spaces
- The co-optation of militaristic masculine heritage in the popularization of obstacle races (i.e., Tough Mudder, Spartan Race, Tough Viking, etc.)
- The politics of muscles and the hegemonic masculinity of the gym space
- Masculine idealizations in physical culture within the populist ascendancy
- Regional articulations of heritage, physical culture, and masculinity
- Male-focused physical cultural events, such as the Man Games
- The machismo of political leadership in physical cultural spaces
- Traditional masculine values within traditional games festivals (i.e., Kurultaj or World Nomad Games)
- Sexual politics of sport and physical activity
- Intersecting politics, gender conformity, religion and sport
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Submission Instructions
This special issue welcomes submissions up to 10,000 words that discuss and examine the rhetoric, meanings, forms, contexts, and relationships among masculinity, physical culture, and contemporary (national) reactionary, regressive, rightward or populist regimes and movements. Given the traditional fissure between sport and politics, contributions are expected to demonstrate an engagement with relevant politics-based literature and political theory. Scholars should consider having their proposal/abstract underpinned by relevant social and/or political theories (e.g., soft power, cultural/political hegemony, nationalism, populism, anti-populism, reactionary politics, authoritarianism, fascism, etc.).
All submissions and journal types should align with the expectations of the journal.
Timeline
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- October 31, 2024: Abstract submission
- December 30, 2024: Author notification
- June 30, 2025: Paper submission
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Please send abstracts to Tom Fabian (tom.fabian@ucd.ie), Bryan Clift (bcclift@ncsu.edu), and Győző Molnár (g.molnar@worc.ac.uk) by 31 October 2024. Abstracts must be in English and 300 words (maximum) excluding the title and authors. Notification of acceptance of abstracts will be returned by 30 December 2024.
Feel free to make inquiries with any of the special issue co-editors.
INSTRUCTIONS FOR AUTHORS
