Call for Papers
We invite you to join us for the Eighteenth International Conference on Sport & Society, the annual meeting of the Sport & Society Research Network, taking place 17–18 June in Niterói, Brazil, and online, hosted by Federal Fluminense University. Held in Brazil in the period leading up to the Women’s World Cup, the conference brings together scholars, practitioners, educators, policymakers, athletes, advocates, and community leaders concerned with the social, cultural, political, and economic dimensions of sport. The annual conference serves as the Network’s central meeting point for interdisciplinary inquiry into how sport both reflects and reshapes wider social relations.
Special Focus and Themes
The special focus of the 2027 conference, “Gender, Race, and Inclusion in Sport,” examines how power, identity, and inequality are produced, contested, and transformed through sporting practices and institutions. Sport has long functioned as a site of both exclusion and possibility—reinforcing hierarchies of gender, race, class, nationality, and ability, while also offering arenas for resistance, visibility, and social change. This focus invites participants to interrogate how inclusion is defined, enacted, and limited within sporting cultures, and how struggles for equity unfold across local, national, and global contexts.
Hosted in Brazil, where sport—particularly football—plays a central role in national identity, popular culture, and global visibility, the conference foregrounds the intersections of race, gender, and inequality that shape sporting life. From women’s and girls’ participation to racialized labor systems, media representation, fan cultures, and governance structures, Brazilian sport provides a powerful lens for examining broader dynamics of inclusion and exclusion. The proximity of the Women’s World Cup further sharpens attention on questions of gender equity, professionalization, access to resources, and global visibility in women’s sport.
We welcome contributions that examine gendered and racialized experiences of athletes, coaches, officials, and fans; the politics of representation and media coverage; access, participation, and exclusion across different sporting contexts; governance, policy, and institutional reform; activism and social movements within sport; and the role of sport in education, health, and community development. Proposals may also explore intersections with sexuality, disability, migration, nationalism, and economic inequality. Alongside the special focus, the Sport & Society Research Network welcomes proposals aligned with its ongoing concerns, including sport and social identity; sport and politics; sport, health and wellbeing; sport, education and youth; and the globalization and commercialization of sport.
Knowledge Experience and Format
The conference is organised as a hybrid knowledge experience, integrating in-person and online participation within a unified scholarly environment. All accepted proposals become Presentation Pages, where presenters upload abstracts, media, and reflections, and where delegates can engage in discussion before, during, and after the event.
In-person sessions at Federal Fluminense University are interwoven with live online presentations and asynchronous contributions within a single integrated program. Regardless of participation mode, all delegates have access to the full schedule, session media, and a growing digital archive. Across formats, the emphasis is on reciprocal, human-scale exchange—conversation, reflection, and collaborative inquiry rather than one-way presentation.
Publication Pathways
Presenters are invited to develop their conference contributions for possible publication in the journals associated with the Sport & Society Research Network, including The International Journal of Sport and Society, or in the Sport & Society Book Imprint, which publishes monographs and edited collections advancing interdisciplinary research on sport and society. Both outlets offer options for traditional and Open Access publication.
Membership and Community
We welcome new and returning members to the Sport & Society Research Network. By purchasing a Presenter Pass, you automatically become—or renew as—a Network Member for the year, with access to the online Knowledge Experience, a shared scholarly space connecting preparation, presentation, reflection, and publication. Members may share work in progress, post updates, browse archives, and participate in peer-facilitated community review.
Membership is also fostered through in-person conferences and events, where participants exchange ideas and build collaborations with host partners and an international community of scholars and practitioners. Membership sustains the Research Network, ensuring continued access to programs, archives, journals, and books, and supporting a community where belonging is defined by contribution and care.
Join Us
We warmly invite you to submit a proposal and to join us—either in Niterói or online—for the Eighteenth International Conference on Sport & Society. Together, we will explore how questions of gender, race, and inclusion shape sporting worlds, and how sport can contribute to more equitable, just, and inclusive social futures.
Regards,
Dr. Jörg Krieger, Research Network Chair, Aarhus University, Denmark & University of Inland Norway, Norway
Dr. Phillip Kalantzis-Cope, Chief Social Scientist, Common Ground Research Networks, United States of America
Prof. Lívia Gonçalves Magalhães, Local Conference Chair, Federal Fluminense University, Brazil
Dr. Camila Augusto Alves Pereira, Local Conference Committee, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Camila Valente de Souza, Local Conference Committee, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Leda Maria da Costa, Local Conference Committee, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Lucas Nascimento de Mattos, Local Conference Committee, Federal Fluminense University, Brazil
Marcelo Rezende, Local Conference Committee, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Marcelo Viana Araújo Filho, Local Conference Committee, Federal Fluminense University, Brazil
Dr. Nathália Fernandes Pessanha, Local Conference Committee, Federal Fluminense University, Brazil
Dr. Renato Soares Coutinho, Local Conference Committee, Federal Fluminense University, Brazil
Dr. Rosana da Câmara Teixeira, Local Conference Committee, Federal Fluminense University, Brazil
Dr. Sergio Settani Giglio, Local Conference Committee, UNICAMP Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Brazil