Sport, Politics and Social Policy Annual Conference 2015

Sport, as a cultural phenomenon, shapes politics, drives economies, highlights inequalities and contributes to our sense of identity and to our local and national pride. Governments and international sports federations bid to host sports mega-events amidst allegations of corrupt practices, yet not all citizens want public money invested in sport at the expense of other services. Rising levels of obesity and inactive lifestyles make sports participation a major concern for current government policy. The use of sport in initiatives such as crime prevention, community development and health promotion campaigns also make sport a subject area of great relevance and political interest, particularly in the area of social policy.

The Sport, Politics and Social Policy Conference 2015 will provide a wide-ranging and interdisciplinary examination of these issues and more. The conference aims to explore the inter-relationship between sport*, politics and social policy by drawing on research from a variety of academic fields, including: politics, international relations, sociology, social policy, criminology, community and youth work, history, law, geography, and sport studies.

*We recognise sports in their broadest forms, including: elite/high performance, competitive, recreational, community, disability and lifestyle sports.

Submission

We welcome Abstracts of up to 300 words for papers that address – but are not limited to - the following themes:
 

• Sport and social policy
• Sports policy and sports development
• Sport and identity politics (e.g. issues of gender and sexuality, race and ethnicity, disability)
•  Sport, international development and relations
• Sport and global, international and local communities
• Sports governance and the regulation of sport
• Sport and crime
• Sport, religion and sectarianism
• Sports mega events and politics
• Sport, resistance and social justice
• Sport, obesity and public health policy
• Teaching sport and politics / sport and policy

Please email Abstracts (300 words maximum) to: sportpoliticsconf@durham.ac.uk by 31st October 2014. Please indicate your institutional affiliation and whether you are a postgraduate student.

Registration

Online registration will be available until 17 December 2014 via:

https://www.dur.ac.uk/conference.booking/details/?id=379

Conference fee

This includes registration, refreshments & lunch both days.

PSA members: Early bird: £50; After 31st October 2014: £70.

Non-PSA members: Early Bird: £80; After 31st October 2014: £100

Non-waged/Student: Early Bird: £40; After 31st October 2014: £50.

NB: Conference fees do not include accommodation or conference dinner (to be held on evening of 7th January). Conference Dinner (£35) and accommodation can be booked as additional extras via the online registration.

Accommodation

Durham University can offer:

- B&B single en-suite student bedrooms at the very reasonable rate of £40 per night at Collingwood College;
- B&B double en-suite (single occupancy) at the competitive rate of £50 per night at Durham Business School.

NB: The conference venue is a 10-15 minute walk from accommodation at Collingwood College; 20-25 minute walk from Durham Business School; 25-30 minute walk from Durham City, where there are a variety of other hotels and B&Bs in Durham City. Please see:http://www.thisisdurham.com/accommodation

We welcome submissions from international colleagues as well as postgraduate research students.