Naming the ghost of capitalism in sport management

The clock is ticking: contexts, tensions and opportunities for addressing environmental justice in sport management

“…Incorporating EJ as a research agenda in sport management, however, is not without challenges. The very first challenge for all scholars who engage in EJ topics is to be able to withstand the potential critiques that one's research is not “objective” enough (Sze and London, 2008), given that the underlying assumption for much sport management scholarship is still to serve, instead of challenge, the capitalist mode of production in the “industry” (Chen, 2022; Newman, 2014). In addition, for sport management researchers keen to develop reciprocal relationships between the academic world and the social movement sphere, there can be multiple, competing demands from both “worlds.” However, as Sze and London (2008) emphasized, this mutually informing praxis is precisely why EJ is an important scholarly endeavor.…”

“…McCullough et al, 2016), environmental justice has yet to be taken up as a topic and/or theoretical framework in this scholarship [2]. If an important mission for sport management research is to enhance the well-being of all members of the global society, particularly with regard to the inequities and inequalities that exist across communities and populations (Chen, 2022;Frisby, 2005;Newman, 2014;Palmer and Masters, 2010;Singer et al, 2022;Thibault, 2009;Walker and Melton, 2015;Zeigler, 2007), as we will argue in this paper, the field will benefit from incorporating EJ as one of its promising agendas. As will be elaborated in later parts of the paper, EJ research in sport management is necessarily at the "crossroads" (Sze and London, 2008) of the environmental movement in sport, policy developments regarding sport, and environmentally relevant scholarship-namely, sport ecology research (McCullough et al, 2020)-and the increasingly prominent agenda of justiceoriented sport management research (e.g.…”

“…, 2016), environmental justice has yet to be taken up as a topic and/or theoretical framework in this scholarship [2]. If an important mission for sport management research is to enhance the well-being of all members of the global society, particularly with regard to the inequities and inequalities that exist across communities and populations (Chen, 2022; Frisby, 2005; Newman, 2014; Palmer and Masters, 2010; Singer et al. , 2022; Thibault, 2009; Walker and Melton, 2015; Zeigler, 2007), as we will argue in this paper, the field will benefit from incorporating EJ as one of its promising agendas.…”

The (ecologically) imperial mode of sport at the exterminist stage of capitalism: Counter stories of Dakar Rally's ride in South America (2009–2019)

“…In The Nutmeg's Curse , Ghosh (2021: 257) warned that “even the sciences are now struggling to keep pace with the hidden forces that are manifesting themselves in climatic events of unprecedented and uncanny violence.” With the continuous turn towards green-capitalism and ecological modernization within the international auto industry, including the much-hyped introduction of electric cars in the Dakar Rally (Acciona, 2017) and other high-profile races (Robeers and Van Den Bulck, 2018), opportunities are abundant for critical inquires in the studies of motorsport on the ongoing contradictions between technological fix and capitalism's unlimited thirst for the exploitation of Nature (Miller, 2017). For sport ecology research, an emergent research agenda led by scholars located in the Global North, it remains urgent to foreground global capitalism and imperialism when examining the multitude of efforts aiming to make the sport industry “greener” (Chen, 2022; Chen & Kellison, 2023), as these corporate endeavors take place within the developed parts of the world that continue to enjoy the spoils from the imperialist unequal exchange.…”

Sensitizing the social-ecosystems of outdoor sport environments: A comprehensive framework

“…These are just some questions that inquiries on the sport ecology of outdoor spaces are worth exploring in order to construct a more sensitized social-ecosystem perspective. Alas, the prevailing institutional logics and economic instrumentalism (Robertson et al, 2021 ; Chen, 2022 ; Stenling and Fahlén, 2022 ), which are principally shaping the sport management discourse, do not seem to be receptive of alternative approaches to measurement, evaluation, policy, and strategizing. They actually constrain the development of transdisciplinary approaches that are necessary to appreciate thoroughly the complex relationship between sport and the environment.…”