Athletes today are often criticized for their aberrant and deviant behavior; however, when activist athletes act with integrity and sincerity by promoting social and political justice, they often face a hate-filled backlash of scorn and contempt. In this paper I explore the negative consequences of being an activist athlete. Using in-depth interview data and secondary accounts, I examine reactions to athletes who engaged in social or political protest. I focus specifically on athletes who have protested against war, sweatshop labor, and racism. The study of activist athletes is important to sociologists for a number of reasons: It highlights the significance of analyzing sport sociologically, it makes explicit the connection between sport and politics, it identifies some of the personal consequences to activists as a result of their protests, and it has the potential to reshape our understanding of sport as a vehicle for progressive social change.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BassAmy. 2002. Not the Struggle but the Triumph: The 1968 Olympics and the Making of the Black Athlete. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
2.
BirrellSusanMcDonaldMary G.. 2000. Reading Sport: Critical Essays on Power and Representation. Boston: Northeastern University Press.
3.
BourdieuPierre. 1987. In Other Words: Essays Toward a Reflexive Sociology. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
4.
BrekhusWayne. 1998. “A Sociology of the Unmarked: Redirecting Our Focus.”Sociological Theory16 (1): 34–51.
5.
BrewerBenjamin D.2002. “Commercialization in Professional Cycling 1950–2001: Institutional Transformations and the Rationalization of ‘Doping’.”Sociology of Sport Journal19 (3): 276–301.
6.
BrownPhilFergusonFaith I. T.. 1995. “Making a Big Stink: Women's Work, Women's Relationships, and Toxic Waste Activism.”Gender and Society9 (2): 145–172.
7.
CandaeleKellyDreierPeter. 2004. “Where Are the Jocks for Justice?”The Nation June 28: 21–24.
8.
CoakleyJayDunningEric. 2000. Handbook of Sports Studies. London: Sage.
9.
CulleyMarci R.AngeliqueHolly L.. 2003. “Women's Gendered Experiences as Long Term Three Mile Island Activists.”Gender and Society17 (3): 445–461.
DelaneyTim. 2003. Sports and Deviant Behavior, Philosophy Now41 (May/June): 6–7.
12.
DenhamBryan E.2004. “Hero or Hypocrite? United States and International Media Portrayals of Carl Lewis amid Revelations of a Positive Drug Test.”International Review for the Sociology of Sport39 (2): 167–185.
13.
DenhamBryan E.2000. “Performance-Enhancing Drug Use in Amateur and Professional Sports: Separating the Realities from the Ramblings.”Culture3 (2): 56–69.
14.
DonnellyPeter. 1993. “Democratization Revisited: Seven Theses on the Democratization of Sport and Active Leisure.”Society and Leisure16 (2): 413–434.
15.
EdwardsHarry. 1969. The Revolt of the Black Athlete. NY: Free Press.
16.
EitzenStanleyD.. 1999. Fair and Foul: Beyond the Myths and Paradoxes of Sport. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.
17.
FreyJames H.EitzenD. Stanley. 1991. “Sport and Society.”Annual Review of Sociology17:503–522.
18.
GiulianottiRichard. 2005. Sport: A Critical Sociology. Cambridge: Polity Press.
19.
GornElliott J.GoldsteinWarren. 1993. A Brief History of American Sports. NY: Hill and Wang.
20.
HartmannDouglass. 2003. Race, Culture, and the Revolt of the Black Athlete: The 1968 Olympic Protests and Their Aftermaths. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
21.
HoulihanBarrie. 2000. “Politics and Sport.” Pp. 213–227 in Jay Coakley and Eric Dunning, Handbook of Sports Studies. London: Sage.
22.
HughsonJohnInglisDavidFreeMarcus. 2005. The Uses of Sport: A Critical Study. London: Routledge.
JansenSue CurrySaboDon. 1994. “The Sport/War Metaphor: Hegemonic Masculinity, the Persian Gulf War, and the New World Order.”Sociology of Sport Journal11:1–17.
25.
KeadyJames W.1998. “Nike and Catholic Social Teaching: A Challenge to the Christian Mission at St. John's University.” Unpublished paper. St. John's University.
26.
KiddBruce. 2003. “Athletes and Human Rights: University Lecture on the Olympics.” Barcelona: Centre d'Estudis Olimpics (UAB). International Chair in Olympism (IOC-UAB).
27.
KiddBruceDonnellyPeter. 2000. “Human Rights in Sports.”International Review for the Sociological Study of Sport35 (2): 131–148.
28.
KingRichardC.SpringwoodCharles Fruehling. 2001. Beyond the Cheers: Race as Spectacle in College Sport. Albany: SUNY Press.
29.
LapchickRichard. 2001. Smashing Barriers: Race and Sport in the New Millennium. Lanham, MD: Madison Books.
MalcolmDominicWaddingtonIvan. 2006. “The Use of Performance-Enhancing Drugs in European Football.”International Review of Modern Sociology32 (2): 309–331.
32.
MarquseeMike. 1999. Redemption Song: Muhammad Ali and the Spirit of the Sixties. NY: Verso.
33.
MooreKenny. 1991. “The Eye of the Storm.”Sports Illustrated75 (7): 62–73.
34.
PassyFlorenceGiugniMarco. 2000. “Life Spheres, Networks, and Sustained Participation in Social Movements: A Phenomenological Approach to Political Commitment.”Sociological Forum15 (1): 117–144.
PelakCynthia Fabrizio. 2005. “Athletes as Agents of Change: An Examination of Shifting Race Relations within Women's Netball in Post-Apartheid South Africa.”Sociology of Sport Journal21:59–77.
37.
PlymireDarcy C.. 1999. “Too Much, Too Fast, Too Soon: Chinese Women Runners, Accusations of Steroid Use, and the Politics of American Track and Field.”Sociology of Sport Journal16 (2): 155–173.
38.
PurdyMark. 2001. “A True Goodwill Gesture: Local Athlete Shows Support for Laborers.”San Jose Mercury News September 6, 2001, p. 1D.
39.
RampersadArnold. 1997. Jackie Robinson: A Biography. NY: Alfred A. Knopf.
40.
ReedTimothy L.2004. “Peace Profile: Muhammad Ali.”Peace Review16 (1): 107–111.
41.
RhodenWilliam C.1992. “Hodges Criticizes Jordan for his Silence on Issues.”New York Times June 5, p. 12.
42.
RobinsonJackie. [1967] 1998. “In Defense of Cassius Clay.” Pp. 72 in The Muhammad Ali Reader. Edited by EarlyGerald. Hopewell, NJ: The Ecco Press.
43.
RobinsonJackie. 1995. I Never Had it Made: An Autobiography. Hopewell, NJ: The Ecco Press.
44.
SageGeorge H.1998. Power and Ideology in American Sport: A Critical Perspective, 2nd Ed.Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics Press.
45.
ScottJack. 1971. The Athletic Revolution. NY: The Free Press.
46.
ScholossmanDavid A.2002. Actors and Activists: Performance, Politics, and Exchange Among Social Worlds. NY: Routledge.
47.
SherkatDarren E.BlockerT. Jean. 1997. “Explaining the Political and Personal Consequences of Protest.”Social Forces75 (3): 1049–1076.
48.
SpreitzerGretchen M.SonensheinScott. 2004. “Toward the Construct Definition of Positive Deviance.”American Behavioral Scientist47 (6): 828–847.
49.
StempelCarl. 2006. “Televised Sports, Masculinist Moral Capital, and Support for the US Invasion of Iraq.”Journal of Sport & Social Issues30 (1): 79–106.
50.
WashingtonRobert E.KarenDavid. 2001. “Sport and Society.”Annual Review of Sociology27:187–212.
51.
WasielewskiPatricia L.1991. “Not Quite Normal, But Not Really Deviant: Some Notes on the Comparison of Elite Athletes and Women Political Activists.”Deviant Behavior12:81–95.
52.
WigginsDavid K.MillerPatrick B.. 2003. The Unlevel Playing Field: A Documentary History of the African American Experience in Sport. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press.
