Abstract
There is a growing body of work that draws attention to the role of bodies and of embodiment in organizations and
in management. Sport management scholars seem to have largely ignored the body of sport managers as well as
their embodiment, however. This is puzzling since sport management implies working with or for bodies that engage
in sport. A cursory review of the Journal of Sport Management suggests that researchers who have published papers
in this journal tend to have a Weberian view of the body, that is, they seem to assume implicitly that individuals are
disembodied. The only exception to this disembodiment seems to be research on diversity but even that focuses not
so much on the body but on meanings and language used to describe constructed differences. Yet bodies are always
present in organizations. The extant organizational and management literature suggests that this scholarly lack of
focus on bodies and embodiment in sport organizations can mask many organizational dynamics. We draw on
theoretical perspectives based on the work of Foucault, Bourdieu and Merleau-Ponty and research conducted in
nonsport organizations on diversity as examples to make a case for researching the body and embodiment in sport
management. We briefly sketch these approaches below and intend to develop them further in the paper.
in management. Sport management scholars seem to have largely ignored the body of sport managers as well as
their embodiment, however. This is puzzling since sport management implies working with or for bodies that engage
in sport. A cursory review of the Journal of Sport Management suggests that researchers who have published papers
in this journal tend to have a Weberian view of the body, that is, they seem to assume implicitly that individuals are
disembodied. The only exception to this disembodiment seems to be research on diversity but even that focuses not
so much on the body but on meanings and language used to describe constructed differences. Yet bodies are always
present in organizations. The extant organizational and management literature suggests that this scholarly lack of
focus on bodies and embodiment in sport organizations can mask many organizational dynamics. We draw on
theoretical perspectives based on the work of Foucault, Bourdieu and Merleau-Ponty and research conducted in
nonsport organizations on diversity as examples to make a case for researching the body and embodiment in sport
management. We briefly sketch these approaches below and intend to develop them further in the paper.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | 2014 North American Society for Sport Management Conference (NASSM 2014) |
| Publisher | North American Society for Sport Management |
| Pages | 415-416 |
| Number of pages | 2 |
| Publication status | Published - Jun 2014 |
| Event | The annual conference of the North American Society for Sport Management - Austin, TX Duration: 31 May 2013 → … |
Conference
| Conference | The annual conference of the North American Society for Sport Management |
|---|---|
| City | Austin, TX |
| Period | 31/05/13 → … |