Sociology in Action: Advancing Anti-Racism Praxis in Sport

Sociology in Action: Advancing Anti-Racism Praxis in Sport

Sport is widely celebrated as a vehicle for social inclusion, yet for racially minoritised communities, experiences of racism in sport remain common, persistent, and often unacknowledged by those with the power to address them. This lecture presents findings from mixed-methods research that asks: how do leaders and managers of sport organisations actively (if not always consciously) resist efforts to dismantle structural racism? Drawing on fieldwork that ‘studies up’ on sport leaders and managers in Australia, and using critical race theory alongside a Foucauldian framework, the research identifies a series of discursive practices through which structural racism is rendered ‘unseen’ and left unchallenged. Together, these practices reflect a pervasive assumption that Indigenous peoples and racialised settlers in Australia can be assimilated into existing sporting structures without any need to transform those structures. The effect is to reinforce White normativity, conceal institutional racism, and keep marginalised voices on the periphery.

Yet this lecture is not simply about diagnosis. It traces the journey a collective of sociologists has undertaken alongside policymakers, practitioners, and community activists to move their research programme from evidence into action, in a collaborative effort to shape anti-racism policy and praxis across Australia's sport ecosystem. The broader purpose is coalition-building: bringing together diverse stakeholders to collaboratively develop and embed anti-racism strategies that are structurally informed, community-driven, accountable, and built to last. While the focus is on sport, the lessons may be wider, offering a case study in how sociological research can be mobilised not merely to describe how racial inequity operates systemically, but to actively work towards dismantling it.

Professor Ramón Spaaij (he/him) is Professor of Sociology at Victoria University in Australia and Global Chair at Manchester Metropolitan University. His research focuses on how thriving and inclusive communities can be created and sustained, and how social inequalities and violent extremism can be understood and transformed. Dr Spaaij has pioneered participatory and ethnographic research that centres the lived experiences of culturally and racially minoritised communities in sport and amplifies their voices in academic, policy, and public conversations. For more information, please visit www.ramonspaaij.com.

This lecture is hosted by the Migration and Interdisciplinary Global Studies Research Network. You can learn more about our work here: .

It is the inaugural event for the new Manchester Metropolitan University School of Sociology and Criminology Social Justice Lecture Series. Follow us on Eventbrite to hear about future lectures as part of this series.

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Host or Publisher School of Sociology and Criminology, Manchester Metropolitan University