Call for Papers
We invite you to join us for the Seventeenth International Conference on Sport & Society, the annual meeting of the Sport & Society Research Network, taking place 11–12 June 2026 in Lillehammer, Norway and online, in partnership with our host institution, the University of Inland Norway, with the support of the Lillehammer Olympic and Paralympic Studies Center (LOSC) and the Norwegian Olympic Museum. The Network brings together researchers, practitioners, policymakers, athletes, educators, and cultural leaders who examine the cultural, political, social, organizational, and economic relationships of sport to society.
In 2026, our special focus “Innovation, Transformation, Contestation: Can Sport Keep Up with Society’s Future?” invites contributors to explore how the future of sport hinges on its ability to respond to accelerating societal change. As ecological instability, technological acceleration, political fragmentation, and shifting social norms reshape the world, sport finds itself at a crossroads: can existing systems adapt, or are long-standing organizational structures, legal frameworks, cultural assumptions, and commercial models being outpaced by transformation?
This year’s focus encourages interdisciplinary engagement across several dimensions. Legal perspectives raise questions about data rights, AI-driven tracking, sponsorship, and the governance of athlete autonomy. Organizational perspectives ask whether current governing bodies are equipped to respond to global challenges such as climate justice, human rights, and digital transformation. Socio-cultural perspectives reconsider norms related to gender, race, identity, and belonging, while historical perspectives reveal how sport has long operated as a site of bodily control, surveillance, and regulation. Environmental justice perspectives question who benefits—and who is displaced—as climate change reshapes where and how sport can occur. Finally, technological and media perspectives explore how immersive technologies and digital spectatorship transform the athlete–audience relationship.
Alongside this Special Focus, the conference welcomes proposals addressing the Network’s annual themes:
Sporting Cultures & Identities; Sport & Health; Sports Education; and Sports Management & Commercialization.
Knowledge Experience and Format
The conference is organised as a hybrid knowledge experience, integrating in-person and online participation into a unified scholarly environment. All accepted proposals become Presentation Pages on CGScholar Event (KX), where presenters upload abstracts, media, and reflections, and where delegates engage in discussion before, during, and after the conference.
In-person sessions, live online presentations, and asynchronous contributions are woven together into a single integrated program. Regardless of participation mode, delegates have access to the full schedule, session media, and an expanding digital archive. Across all formats, the emphasis is on reciprocal, human-scale engagement—conversation, reflection, and collaborative inquiry rather than one-way presentation.
Publication Pathways
Presenters are invited to develop their work for possible publication in The International Journal of Sport and Society, which examines game logics, body logics, aesthetic logics, and organizational logics in sport, and explores issues of identity, health, fair play, media representation, and social participation. Presenters may also propose longer-form works for the Sport & Society Book Imprint, which publishes monographs and edited collections that advance scholarship on sport’s cultural, economic, organizational, and societal dimensions. Both outlets offer traditional and Open Access publication pathways.
Membership and Community
We welcome new and returning members to the Sport & Society Research Network. By purchasing a Presenter Pass, you automatically become—or renew as—a Network Member for the year, gaining access to our online Knowledge Experience, a shared scholarly environment that connects the full cycle of our work: preparation, presentation, reflection, and publication. Members can access conference updates, session media, calls for papers, program archives, and journal and book content, and contribute their own work through peer-facilitated community review.
Membership is also activated through our in-person conferences and events, where delegates meet host partners, exchange ideas, and collaborate with global colleagues. Membership sustains the Research Network, ensuring continued access to its programs, archives, journals, and books—and maintaining a community where belonging is defined by contribution and care.
Join Us
We warmly invite you to submit a proposal and to join us—either in Lillehammer or online—for this year’s annual meeting of the Sport & Society Research Network. Together, we will explore how innovation, transformation, and contestation are reshaping the future of sport—and how sport, in turn, shapes the future of society.
Sincerely,
Dr. Jörg Krieger, Research Network Chair, Aarhus University, Denmark & University of Inland Norway, Norway
Dr. Svein Erik Nordhagen, Local Conference Committee, University of Inland Norway, Norway
Dr. Trine Løvold Syversen, Local Conference Committee, University of Inland Norway, Norway
Dr. Phillip Kalantzis-Cope, Chief Social Scientist, Common Ground Research Networks, United States of America