Innovation, Transformation, Contestation: Can Sport Keep Up with Society’s Future?
As societies confront accelerating crises such as ecological instability and political fragmentation, sport stands at a critical juncture. Can it remain a progressive force, or is it increasingly outpaced by societal transformation? We invited contributors to the conference to explore how the future of sport hinges on its ability to confront tensions between innovation and control, inclusion and exclusion, care and commerce.
The following perspectives could be explored:
Legal perspectives: In an era of biometric data, commercial sponsorships, and AI-driven performance tracking, who holds rights over sport and its participants? This perspective examines the shifting boundaries of ownership, consent, and legal personhood in sport.
Organizational aspects: re current sport governing bodies equipped to respond to global challenges such as climate justice, human rights, and digital transformation? This perspective questions whether traditional structures are capable of leading sport through the societal transformations ahead.
Socio-cultural meanings: How do changing understandings of gender, race, and cultural identity contest traditional norms inscribed on athletes and leisure sport participants?
Historical legacies: Sport history reveals long-standing strategies of bodily control—from gender testing to bio-political surveillance. What can we learn from historical perspectives to reimagine sport’s future without replicating past harms?
Environmental justice: As climate change redefines where and how sport can be played, whose communities are prioritized or displaced in the process? This perspective addresses the spatial politics of infrastructure, access, and environmental responsibility in sport's global expansion.
Technology and spectators: Immersive technology are reshaping spectatorship and participation. How do these changes alter the athlete–audience relationship, and who benefits from the transformation of sport into a digital spectacle?