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Journal of Sociology Tactics of the Ugly Australian: Morality, masculinity, nationalism, and governance amid a cheating controversy Journal: Journal of Sociology Manuscript ID JOS-2018-054.R2 Manuscript Type:ForOriginal Peer Manuscript Review Keyword: morality, deviance, nationalism, masculinity, governance, sport Cricket occupies an ambivalent place in the Australian cultural imaginary, caught between former colonial origins and current pluralist aspirations, and retaining conservative leanings that can veer into ‘ugly assimilationism’. Elite representatives are variably celebrated as national icons or uneasy sources of collective identity, given tendencies to become ‘Ugly Australians’. Within the Australian cricket team, this combustive mix of nationalism, moralism, masculinity, and instrumental deviance coalesced into a win-at-all-costs ethos, culminating in brazen cheating and causing apparent diplomatic embarrassment. More Abstract: significant, however, were underlying strategies of self-confessedly brutal degradation of opponents. Strategic aggression and humiliation were abetted by governing bodies who demanded success, but neglected to uphold ethical standards. Moral hazards and regulatory gaps incentivised players to self-set ‘the line’ of acceptable conduct, enabling injurious tactics that included intimidation, emasculation, mockery, and mass invective. A complementary argument discusses populist posturing and moral hypocrisy that were emergent during the cheating scandal, for more worthy grievances languished amid the ‘crisis in cricket’. https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/jos Page 1 of 35 Journal of Sociology 1 2 3 4 5 Tactics of the Ugly Australian: Morality, masculinity, nationalism, 6 and governance amid a cheating controversy in sport 7 8 9 10 11 Cricket occupies an ambivalent place in the Australian cultural imaginary, caught between former 12 colonial origins and current pluralist aspirations, and retaining conservative leanings that can veer into 13 14 ‘ugly assimilationism’. Elite representatives are variably celebrated as national icons or uneasy 15 sources of collective identity, given tendencies to become ‘Ugly Australians’. Within the Australian 16 cricket team, this combustive mix of nationalism, moralism, masculinity, and instrumental deviance 17 coalesced into a win-at-all-costs ethos, culminating in brazen cheating and causing apparent 18 diplomatic embarrassment. More significant, however, were underlying strategies of self-confessedly 19 brutal degradation of opponents. Strategic aggression and humiliation were abetted by governing 20 bodies who demanded success, but neglected to uphold ethical standards. Moral hazards and 21 For Peer Review 22 regulatory gaps incentivised players to self-set ‘the line’ of acceptable conduct, enabling injurious 23 tactics that included intimidation, emasculation, mockery, and mass invective. A complementary 24 argument discusses populist posturing and moral hypocrisy that were emergent during the cheating 25 scandal, for more worthy grievances languished amid the ‘crisis in cricket’. 26 27 Keywords: morality, masculinity, nationalism, deviance, governance, sport 28 29 30 31 32 33 Introduction: ‘Winning ugly’ 34 35 36 There was an air of excitement prior to the 2017-18 ‘Ashes’ cricket series. This rivalry 37 38 between England and Australia is the game’s oldest, dating back to 1882. Still, Cricket 39 40 Australia (CA) – the national governing body – wanted to further stoke impassioned 41 42 43 supporters through a promotional campaign, entitled ‘#BeatEngland’ (2017a). 44 45 Advertisements featured supporters of all ages, along with well-known players and other 46 47 noteworthy figures, urging Australia to ‘Beat England!’. One patriotic toddler struggled to 48 49 50 even pronounce ‘Beat England’, but screamed with all his might. 51 52 The Australian men’s team won the series 4-0, yet the insistent beating continued. During the 53 54 55 post-series celebrations, two giant hands adorned the presentation podium. One was 56 57 emblazoned with the Australian flag, holding up four fingers. The other was a loose fist 58 59 (signifying zero), in England’s colours. Fireworks fizzed from the four raised fingers. Many 60 https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/jos Journal of Sociology Page 2 of 35 1 2 3 saw this gaudy display as sorely lacking in grace and humility, revelling in ‘winning ugly’ in 4 5 1 6 order to better capture attention in a crowded media market (Baum, 2018b). As this paper 7 8 explores, various modes of ‘winning ugly’ – such as undermining respect for opponents, 9 10 antagonistic on-field tactics, yet feigning moral superiority – became entrenched within the 11 12 upper echelons of Australian cricket, reflecting a blinkered organisational ethos amid the 13 14 15 ruthless pursuit of success. 16 17 18 The tawdry jingoism of the Ashes victory would prove the least of concerns in what became a 19 20 notorious season. Four months later, the Australian team were caught blatantly cheating by 21 For Peer Review 22 committing ball tampering.2 The subsequent moral opprobrium was unprecedented. Media 23 24 25 outlets worldwide covered the story, including The Economist, The New York Times, Forbes, 26 27 China Daily, and Channel News Asia. The Hindustan Times (2018) declared the incident 28 29 ‘heaped disgrace and humiliation on the country’, while The Washington Post (Chiu, 2018) 30 31 32 reported it ‘managed to shake Australia to its core’. The UK’s Sunday Times, meanwhile, 33 34 pulled no punches with the headline ‘CHEATS’, while The Sun went with ‘HYPOCRITES’ 35 36 (Lemon, 2018b). Political leaders across the globe weighed in, signalling a loss of diplomatic 37 38 ‘soft power’ (see below). This reputational damage culminated in lengthy suspensions of the 39 40 41 captain, vice-captain, and a junior player, along with resignations from the coach, CA’s CEO, 42 43 and Chairman (among other executives). Also resultant was an exodus of sponsors, 44 45 revelations of other misconduct, loss of public standing, and further recriminations to come. 46 47 48 Surveying the damage, commentators would point to ‘a toxic, win-at-all-costs ethos at the 49 50 51 heart of Australian cricket’ (Wilson, 2018). How this occurred demands further explanation. 52 53 This paper explores the mutually reinforcing logics of morality, nationality, and masculinity, 54 55 which coalesced into modes of tactical belligerence that can be described as ‘ugly 56 57 58 instrumentality’. This interactional mode is wilfully injurious, yet resistant to regulation, 59 60 strategically evading sanctions while simultaneously aligning itself with collective ideals https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/jos Page 3 of 35 Journal of Sociology 1 2 3 (such as national pride). This tethering to admirable goals enables and obscures forms of 4 5 6 deviance intended to induce fear, dread, and disorder in the other. The employment of ugly 7 8 instrumentality within the Australian cricket team both exploited and – after its spectacular 9 10 collapse – undermined its culturally privileged position. Therefore, a complementary 11 12 argument explores the populist posturing, failed governance, and skewed moral calculus that 13 14 15 allowed professional cricket to become complicit in social harms. 16 17 18 19 20 21 Cricket in the AustralianFor popular Peer imaginary Review 22 23 24 But first, to better understand this heady brew of moralism, nationalism, masculinity, and 25 26 instrumental deviance, it merits highlighting cricket’s esteem within Australian popular 27 28 29 culture. Perhaps with some hyperbole, the Test captain is commonly said to hold comparable 30 31 symbolic importance to the Prime Minister. Three former Test captains have been awarded 32 33 Australian of the Year in recent decades, and elite cricketers prove among the most well- 34 35 known global ambassadors. Cricket is frequently tied to national identity and often exploited 36 37 38 for political ends, particularly through long associations between the office of Prime Minister 39 40 and the national team. Indeed, Australia’s first PM, Edmund Barton, was a cricket enthusiast, 41 42 who umpired the match that sparked the Sydney Riot of 1879. This association has typically 43 44 45 proven favourable to conservative worldviews (Hutchins, 2001). Former PM John Howard is 46 47 famously fond of the game, and idolized both Don Bradman – Australia’s greatest ever player 48 49 – and Australia’s longest-serving PM, Robert Menzies (himself an ardent admirer of cricket). 50 51 52 Brett Hutchins (2001, p.57) argues that, for Howard especially, cricket signified romantic 53 54 possibilities for the ‘reinvigoration of the social-conservative tradition’, upholding a personal 55 56 vision ‘underpinned by nostalgia for middle-class values consistent with a British-derived, 57 58 Anglo-Saxon, pro-imperial Australian past...’. Tellingly – in ways reflecting nostalgic and 59 60 https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/jos Journal of Sociology Page 4 of 35 1 2 3 heroic ideals of masculinity in sport (see Whannel, 2002, pp.161-168) – soon after the 4 5 6 cheating incident news outlets began to longingly quote ‘Bradman’s Creed’ on the (lost) 7 8 purity of cricket (Wilson, 2018). 9 10 11 Another firmly conservative former PM, Tony Abbott, played cricket at Oxford, as did 12 13 former Labour PM, Bob Hawke, where he would also set a world record in beer drinking. 14 15 Hawke once regularly attended matches, always willing to skol a beer before an adoring 16 17 18 crowd. Perhaps no other figure