International Review for the Sociology of Sport

The purpose of this essay is to underscore the importance of contemplating the unsustainability of neoliberal sport in the Anthropocene. It contends that the conditions associated with anthropogenic environmental change should compel researchers who study the sport industry to consider the possibility that not only are contemporary capitalist forms of sport and physical activity generally not ecologically sustainable, but that post-growth forms of physical culture attuned to the conditions of the Anthropocene represent potentially more pleasurable and desirable alternatives. This argument is rooted in the work of the late Brian Pronger and others on “post-sport,” which serves as a conceptual foundation for valorizing the physical cultural possibilities beyond the boundaries of neoliberal sport. The crisis of the Anthropocene, however, arguably requires a revisiting and recalibrating of post-sport towards what we call after sport—the possibility of developing and desiring post-growth physical cultures aligned with philosopher Kate Soper's notion of “alternative hedonism.” The article also provides an analysis of the constraints and limits of current scholarship and industry practices intended to address climate risks to sport via adaptation, in order to underscore the necessity of coupling such vital work with the exploration of other physical culture possibilities that might arise in conditions in which neoliberal sport is no longer sustainable nor desirable.

The Tokyo 2020 Olympics Pentathlon incident, where German athlete Annika Schleu lost control of the horse Saint Boy, led to the termination of the show-jumping event and exposed the unstable relationships and definitions established between human and more-than-human actors. Analyzing comments on the three most-viewed YouTube videos on this case through Actor-Network Theory, we examine how responsibility is distributed between the two actors involved. Our findings indicate that riding is inherently relational and cannot be entirely dominated by a single agent. No ideal interaction point guarantees control, challenging human sovereignty over the more-than-human. Commentators place Schleu in an ambiguous position: she failed to control the more-than-human and, consequently, can no longer be treated humanely. This case reveals that distinctions between the human and the more-than-human are locally negotiated. Disruptions in these distinctions expose an enduring anthropocentric perspective, where failure to control the more-than-human disqualifies humans as fully human. The more-than-human thus emerges as a meta-normative guarantor, determining whether those who succeed or fail in control are granted human treatment.

In this article, I utilize the New Materialism framework to explore the interpretation of baduanjin, a traditional Chinese fitness Qigong, in the Anthropocene, suggesting that its surge in popularity in China is the result of the entanglement of nature and culture. I conducted 14 in-depth interviews with baduanjin practitioners across China. The research reveals: (1) Regular practice of baduanjin can help practitioners in “becoming” a “harmonized body” that exists beyond the norms of modernity, serving as a symbol of the entanglement between nature and culture; (2) the “qi” generated during baduanjin practice is a physical experience achieved through dynamic interactions between the practitioners and their environment, thereby aiding them in re-establishing their connection with nature, not only preserving traditional culture but also actively exploring the ecological relationships in modern society; (3) the experience of “qi” is a form of “scale management” of the practitioner's own life time within the immense temporal crisis of the Anthropocene, helping individuals to deeply engage with the complex interconnections among planetary, geological, and life scales in the temporal dimension.

This article is based on the creation of sports heritage as having strong roots in the Anthropocene. It particularly discusses listed building declarations of the built heritage of sport, from a Swedish perspective, as well as the feelings of nostalgia associated with such activities. Two contemporary examples of preserved sports heritage sites, Hindås Ski Jumping Hill in Hindås and the stand at Virdavallen in Alvesta, are analysed. The analysis shows that the preservation or the foreverising of sporting sites is based on a fear of losing them, known as constructalgia, and that a listed building declaration is a way of curing such feelings. The importance of preserving the sites is partly about honouring past generations and partly about offering the heritage of sport to future generations. Using contemporary heritage theory and a post-anthropocentric approach, the article problematises prevailing, human-centred conservation paradigms and proposes other imaginative ideas of how to think beyond the ingrained patterns that characterise the Anthropocene.

This article discusses the enmeshment of skateboarding and pollution from an ethnographic perspective. It advances recent scholarship on “polluted leisure” by zooming in on Nanjido, Seoul. A former landfill and brownfield, the island was transformed into an ecological park in the lead-up to the 2002 FIFA World Cup. Performing athletic tricks on top of decades of chemical and radiating waste, skateboarders must attend to and live alongside the hidden anthropogenic materialities and invisible social histories of the eco-park. This ethnography provides evidence of the tactics that skateboarders use to navigate and mitigate the socio-material repercussions of pollution—from denial to fact-finding. The skatepark also marks a shift in the social discourse on skateboarding in South Korea. Historically, the practice is considered an ing-yeo-jit: a “useless” and wasteful youth activity—a social pollutant. Encapsulated in gentrification strategies masked as environmentalism, skateboarding is presented as a “useful” and “healthy” practice used to push the park's green and salubrious image.

In the context of the contemporary sport for development and peace (SDP) sector, the environment and climate change have proven difficult to address in both policy and practice. In this paper, by drawing on interviews with policy-makers in the sector and practitioners who design and implement programming, we attempt to tease apart the tensions shaping sport for development and peace in the Anthropocene. Reading interview data through the lens of postcolonial thought, we identify relations of power and knowledge production that have shaped discourses in and of the Anthropocene, and that produce disjointed visions of if, or how, sport may contribute to the wicked problem of climate change. We argue that these disjointed visions reinforce existing hierarchies and hinder meaningful climate action in SDP. We conclude by calling on actors in SDP policy and practice to understand and implement sport in ways that contend with both local particularities and the interconnected realities of the Anthropocene.

Anthropogenic climate change has profound effects globally. If the Anthropocene signifies the decline of nature as we once knew it, how might this transformation affect sporting activities conducted in natural environments? This scenario necessitates a renegotiation not only of the future of sports but also of humanity's shared history and the individual emotions and identities associated with sports. Ultimately, changes in nature due to climate change shape sports culture and redefine the understanding of the role sports mean to us. Drawing on a sociological and cultural–geographical perspective on place and belonging, this paper explores how an approach centred on the relationship between the physical environment, symbolic representation, and human emotions can offer new insights into sports in the Anthropocene.

This article brings together key insights from Billy Graeff, Brendan Hokowhitu, and Holly Thorpe to critically examine the relationship between sport and the Anthropocene. Together, each writer explores how sport both shapes and is shaped by environmental transformations, raising questions about its role in the accelerating ecological crisis. They discuss the need to rethink the Anthropocene through interdisciplinary perspectives, such as, feminist, critical, and Indigenous sociologies, emphasizing the agency of the environment and the intersections between sport, colonialism, capitalism, and industrial expansion. The interview highlights the environmental impacts of mega-events, the material effects of colonialism on sport, and the challenges of governance in sport's sustainability initiatives. While emphasizing the importance of athlete activism and grassroots movements in driving change, they propose that Indigenous knowledges offer valuable insights into alternative epistemologies and practices, challenging dominant capitalist models. Looking to the future, the article anticipates increasing environmental impacts on sport, including health risks, inequalities, and the need for a radical shift towards more sustainable practices. Ultimately, the scholars argue that sport is deeply implicated in the Anthropocene, requiring a reimagining of its role in a world increasingly shaped by ecological crises.