Seventeenth International Conference on Sport and Society, University of Inland Norway, Lillehammer Campus, Norway
11th to 12th June 2026
Lillehammer, Norway
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CALL FOR PAPERS
Place: University of Inland Norway, Lillehammer Campus, Norway and Online
Format: In-Person (Location) and Online (Asynchronous Content)
Dates: 11-12 June 2026
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PLENARY SPEAKERS
Petur Mittun, Secretary General of The Faroese Confederation of Sports and Olympic Committee, Faroe Islands
Ole Henrik Somby, Project Manager for the Ovttas project in Sámi Valáštallan Lihttu, Norway
Jorg Krieger, Associate Professor, Aarhus University, Denmark
Anne Tjonndal, Professor, Nord University, Norway
Svein Erik Nordhagen, Associate Professor, University of Inland Norway, Lillehammer, Norway
Usva Friman, Assistant Professor of Game Studies and Co-Director of the Game Research Lab, Tampere University, Finland
Trine Lovold Syversen, Associate Professor, University of Inland Norway, Lillehammer, Norway
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SPECIAL FOCUS: Innovation, Transformation, Contestation: Can Sport Keep Up with Society's Future?
As societies confront accelerating crises such as ecological instability and political fragmentation, sport stands at a critical juncture. Can it remain a progressive force, or is it increasingly outpaced by societal transformation? We invited contributors to the conference to explore how the future of sport hinges on its ability to confront tensions between innovation and control, inclusion and exclusion, care and commerce.
The following perspectives could be explored:
- Legal perspectives: In an era of biometric data, commercial sponsorships, and AI-driven performance tracking, who holds rights over sport and its participants? This perspective examines the shifting boundaries of ownership, consent, and legal personhood in sport.
- Organizational aspects: re current sport governing bodies equipped to respond to global challenges such as climate justice, human rights, and digital transformation? This perspective questions whether traditional structures are capable of leading sport through the societal transformations ahead.
- Socio-cultural meanings: How do changing understandings of gender, race, and cultural identity contest traditional norms inscribed on athletes and leisure sport participants?
- Historical legacies: Sport history reveals long-standing strategies of bodily control—from gender testing to bio-political surveillance. What can we learn from historical perspectives to reimagine sport's future without replicating past harms?
- Environmental justice: As climate change redefines where and how sport can be played, whose communities are prioritized or displaced in the process? This perspective addresses the spatial politics of infrastructure, access, and environmental responsibility in sport's global expansion.
- Technology and spectators: Immersive technology are reshaping spectatorship and
participation. How do these changes alter the athlete–audience relationship, and who benefits from the transformation of sport into a digital spectacle?
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CONFERENCE THEMES
THEME 1: Sporting Cultures and Identities
THEME 2: Sport and Health
THEME 3: Sports Education
THEME 4: Sports Management and Commercialization
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JOURNAL
The International Journal of Sport and Society provides a forum for wide-ranging and interdisciplinary examination of sport, including: the history, sociology, and psychology of sport; sports medicine and health; physical and health education; and sports administration and management.
Serial Founded: 2010
ISSN: 2152-7857 (Print) ISSN: 2152-7865 (Online)
Publication Frequency: Biannually
Indexing: Educational Psychology and Administration (Cabell's), Internal A&I SPORTDiscus (EBSCO), Internal FT SportDiscus (EBSCO). The Australian Research Council (ARC), International Bibliography of the Social Sciences (IBSS) (Module) (ProQuest), Scopus (Elsevier)
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ABOUT US
Founded in 2010, the Sport & Society Research Network is brought together around a common interest in cultural, political, and economic relationships of sport to society. We seek to build an epistemic community where we can make linkages across disciplinary, geographic, and cultural boundaries. As a Research Network, we are defined by our scope and concerns and motivated to build strategies for action framed by our shared themes and tensions. You can become a participant by submitting a presentation to our annual conference, a research article to one of our journals, or book proposal to out imprint.
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RELATED CONFERENCES
We also offer related thematic events in our other Research Networks that you might be able to attend in-person. This way we build for our Research Network Members flexible, and at the same time resilient, spaces for communication, engagement, and participation.
View other Common Ground Research Networks conferences:
