Sport Culture and Policy

Aim: The main aim of the 'Sport Culture and Policy' research strand of the Peter Harrison Centre for Disability Sport, led by Dr David Howe, is to research and disseminate knowledge of the cultural environment surrounding Paralympic sport.

Overview: This research strand is interested in how the culture of the Paralympic movement is distinct from that of the mainstream. In order to achieve this aim the Sport Culture and Policy team are interested in a wide range of social issues (e.g. class, ethnicity, gender and physicality) and how these impact upon the community involved in disability sport. Our research is undertaken using qualitative methods within the disciplines of social anthropology and sociology with special attention paid to historical and ethical issues.

Policy research within the group is primarily focused upon how legally binding policy (e.g. The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and other related national legislation) shapes the practice of those providing services for the disability sport community. As such we are interested in the relationship between policies, the programmes developed to implement them and the practice on the ground.

For further information about David Howe's research please see his PHC staff profile and his SSEHS staff profile.

Transition to community fitness programs for persons with disabilities following rehabilitation - Awarded to Dr David Howe - August 2010

Dr David Howe has been awarded a grant by the Canadian Health Research Institute (CHRI) to carry out research on ‘Transition to community fitness programs for persons with disabilities following rehabilitation’. The project will be undertaken in collaboration with Dr. Donna Goodwin from the University of Alberta, Canada over a three year period.

This strand undertakes research in areas which includes but is not limited to the following:

Classification, sport science and technology interface

1. The role of disability sport classification processes in shaping the Paralympic Movement.

2. How the culture of sport science research enhances technologies and impacts upon the system of classification.

3. How sporting technologies impact upon our understanding of how athletes could and/or should be classified.

Cultural history of the Paralympic Movement

1. The importance of lived histories of the Paralympic Movement.

2. Centering the history of the Paralympic Movement around voices from diverse impairment groups.

3. Exploring the hierarchy of impairment and its roots within the history of disability and the Paralympics in particular.

Philosophy of the Paralympic Movement

1. Exploring the relationship between the concept of normality and how it impacts upon sporting participation rates of various impairment groups.

2. The role of dependency and trust in shaping the Paralympic Movement.

3. To what extent is 'difference normal' and how can the Paralympic Movement be used to unpack these debates?

Publications

Howe, P. D. (2010) The sporting ethic should celebrate difference. Sport and Citizenship: Sport serving society. Sept - Nov, Vol. 12: 20.

Howe,  P.D. (2010) ‘Disability, Olympism and Paralympism’ in Bairner, A. and Molnar, G. (eds.)  Politics of the Olympics. London: Routledge. pp. 69-80.

Presentations in Descending Date Order

Howe, P. D. (2010).  Athlete as Anthropologist, Anthropologist as athlete: a critical exploration of the Paralympic Movement. At the Ist Annual Trevor Williams Conference, 22nd October 2010, Coimbra, Portugal.

Kitchin, P.J. and Howe, P.D. Searching for evidence: A case analysis of the impact of policy on the management of a community sport organisation.  Paper presented at the 18th European Association of Sport Management Conference.  Charles University in Prague, 18th September 2010.

Silva, C.F. and Howe, P.D. (2010).  The Imagined Paralympian:  Supercrip and the impaired sporting  body. At the Media Communications and Cultural Studies Association Conference, Currents in the Mainstream, 22nd September 2010, De Montfort University, Leicester.

Silva, C.F. and Howe, P.D. (2010).  The [In]Validity of the Representation of Supercrip: exploring Portuguese Cases, 2010 European Conference in Adapted Physical Activity, 6-8th May 2010, Jyvaskyla, Finland.

David has also been appointed to the editorial board of the European Journal of Adapted Physical Activity.

If you are interested in the Peter Harrison Centre undertaking research in these (or related areas) please contact Dr David Howe at the following email address: p.d.howe@lboro.ac.uk.

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