As the world focuses on the 2018 World Cup in Russia, we are proud to host a conference on Participation, Inclusion, and Social Responsibility in Global Sports. The third conference in the series on Soccer and Globalization will pick up on themes first explored in our first two conferences, “Soccer as a Global Phenomenon” (Cambridge, MA 2016) and “Reinforcing, Crossing, and Transcending Borders: Soccer in a Globalized World” (Piraeus, Greece 2017).
Focusing on participation and inclusion in global sports from a historical and modern-day perspective, we look to better understand how and why certain types of people are allowed to participate and others are not. We will expand beyond soccer/football into a cross-section of sports and focus on what is being done to address these inequalities.
The conference is organized around four sessions on topics such as race, gender, immigration, and social responsibility in global sports. Each session consists of a panel of leading scholars on sports as it affects economics, history, social structures, and the fabric of global life. The panels will be followed by a Roundtable discussion on the same topic. This unique format creates a dialogue between different stakeholders who are rarely in direct conversation.
Among the speakers, we note Grant Farred, Ben Carrington, Tamar Rapoport, Sine Agergaard and Susan Brownell.
All over the world, people define themselves by their relationship to sports, whether as a participant or a fan. Expats remain loyal to their country of origin’s team and organize complex societies around viewing games together. LGBTQ athletes assert their identity by organizing a soccer league in Turkey. By focusing on how teams and clubs can support inclusion, we hope to unleash the true power of global sports.
Principal Conveners:
Sven Beckert, Laird Bell Professor of History, Harvard University
Stephen Ortega, Associate Professor of History, Simmons College
Additional Conveners:
Yağmur Nuhrat, Assistant Professor of Sociology, Bilgi University
Daren Graves, Associate Professor of Education, Simmons College
Richard Giulianotti, Professor of Sociology, Loughborough University
Darragh McGee, Assistant Professor in Anthropology, University of Bath
Initiator of Conference Series: Cemal Kafadar, Vehbi Koç Professor of Turkish Studies,
Harvard University.
All sessions are open to the public. Preregistration here is appreciated.
Read more on the conference webpage
