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Producing Knowledge, Producing Bodies: Cross-Currents in Sociologies of Sport and Physical Culture ABSTRACTS 31st Annual Conference November 3-6, 2010 San Diego, California NASSS North American Society for the Sociology of Sport Société nord‐américaine de sociologie du sport Sociedad Norteamericana para la Sociología del Deporte Front Cover Art Picture of Allison’s Renshaw’s “Chlorophyll Gum” (72" x 96" 2009 mixed media on panel) Copyright © 2010 Allison Renshaw Courtesy of Quint Contemporary Art About San Diego Artist Allison Renshaw Allison Renshaw received a B.A. degree in economics from Pepperdine University in Malibu, California, and a Master’s of Fine Arts degree from Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, Maryland. She is an associate faculty member at MiraCosta College in Oceanside, California. Renshaw was nominated this year for the San Diego Art Prize and recently had a solo exhibition entitled “Plastic Fantastic” at the Oceanside Museum of Art in San Diego. Renshaw was also recently included in “Here Not There” at the Museum of Contemporary Art in San Diego. The front cover of our NASSS Program as well as our NASSS book of abstracts feature the piece that was used to advertize the Plastic Fantastic exhibition: “Chlorophyll Gum,” a 72" x 96" mixed media on panel (2009). Chlorophyll Gum, Never Mind the Mainstream (the 56" x 48" 2010 mixed media on panel featured on the back cover of our NASSS Program) and other pieces shown in the Plastic Fantastic exhibition explore the contrast between McMansions and the artificiality of high-end living with San Diego’s gorgeous seaside weather and natural beauty. While seemingly random and difficult to decipher, her art references today’s open-source culture of sampling and recycling. Fashion, modern architecture and beach aestheticism combine and collide in Renshaw’s vibrant mixed-media compositions. Pulsating with energy and pop abstraction, the imagery in Renshaw’s paintings allows lines between organic and man-made to blur while exploiting the tension between plasticity and temporality. She creates a chaotic universe weaving fragments of pop culture into a fusion of color and intricate doodle-like patterns. Renshaw’s art seemed particularly suited for this year’s NASSS conference theme “Producing Knowledge, Producing Bodies: Cross-Currents in Sociologies of Sport and Physical Culture.” This theme encourages scholars to reflect on cross- currents and the blurring of boundaries, to focus on “physical culture,” and to explore issues around the body, as it is increasingly fragmented and biomedicalized. Such elements are also part and parcel of Renshaw’s work. Renshaw is delighted to see her art being featured on our cover as she is also an avid sportswoman. She teaches aerobics, runs marathons, and enjoys surfing, paddleboarding and skiing. 2010 NASSS Conference Abstracts Page 2 2010 NASSS Conference Abstracts Adam, Maxwell, Queen's University ([email protected]) The Güegüensista Experience: Apprenticeship, Embodiment, and Decolonization in Western Nicaragua "The Ballet of the Güegüence; or, The Macho-Raton" (Brinton 1883) is an anti-colonial dance-drama that has been performed in the streets of the departments of Masaya and Carazo since at least the early seventeenth-century. This dance-drama was widely interpreted by twentieth century “intellectuals … as a parable for Nicaraguan national identity and its formation” (Field, 1999, xix) and it was proclaimed a “masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity” by UNESCO in 2005. But what the performance actually means to its practitioners—those most intimately involved in contemporary (re)productions—remains unclear. This study brings discussions of (the) body and embodiment into an analysis of Güegüence tradition. Loïc Wacquant’s (2004, 2005, 2009) reworking of the Bourdieusian conceptualization of habitus provides both the anchor and compass for this ethnographic journey. By enrolling into dance classes and keeping an ethnographic journal, as well as conducting supplementary interviews, the researcher sheds light on how and why one becomes a güegüencista, what it means to be a cultural performer, and how Güegüence has maintained its transformative anti-colonial nature three centuries following its colonial birth. Adams, Mary Louise, Queen’s University ([email protected]) “Walk This Way": The Concept of Risk in the Promotion of Walking for Health "Walk into Health," "Walk Yourself Fit!" This paper addresses walking as a means of understanding how discourses of risk are shaping notions of physical activity and influencing contemporary forms of embodiment. In both popular media and public health literatures walking is widely promoted as a simple and effective means of averting the dangers of sedentary living, that is, of reducing the risk of chronic disease while increasing only slightly the risk of activity-related injuries. Responding to what Robert Crawford calls ‘the imperative of health’ public health workers now lead walking workshops, provide instruction on walking technique and advice on walking gear. To demonstrate the long reach of risk discourses, this paper engages a discursive analysis of recent texts (newspaper articles and health promotion videos and pamphlets) that promote walking for health. What are the risks of walking? What are the risks of not walking? Drawing on Foucault’s concept of governmentality and concomitant understandings of risk as a moral technology through which contemporary subjectivities are constituted, the paper demonstrates the way rationalities of risk infuse the meanings that can be made of the most fundamental aspects of everyday life. Agyemang, Kwame, Texas A&M University ([email protected]) and John N. Singer, Texas A&M University ([email protected]) Black Male Athlete Social Responsibility (BMASR) in Big-time American Sports Stemming from their commodification as a means for growing sport into a commercial entity, multi-million dollar professional contracts with teams and sponsors, and sometimes, socially unacceptable acts, current Black male professional athletes in big- time American sports face not only the pressure to perform athletically, but also to conduct themselves in a socially responsible manner. Given the above mentioned factors, this paper sees today's Black male athlete as a business, therefore necessitating them to engage in socially responsible acts as a means of management, just as scholars have encouraged CSR initiatives, among many strategies, to manage a corporation. Answering the call of sport management scholars to further analyze and expand CSR principles in sport, the purpose of this paper is to illuminate on Black male athlete social responsibility (BMASR) as a management strategy with the intention of moving toward a framework for understanding this unique concept. 2010 NASSS Conference Abstracts Page 3 Aicher, Thomas J., Northern Illinois University ([email protected]) and Janelle E. Wells, University of Florida ([email protected]) Is it the "Old Boys" Network or the "Old White Boys?": A Race by Gender Analysis of Homologous Reproduction of Women's Basketball Teams Nontraditional leaders face many challenges when attempting to break through the "concrete ceiling" in intercollegiate athletics. Researchers have evaluated the impact of organizational structures on women and underrepresented racial groups separately, however, scant research has evaluated the two groups together. This study centered on determining if a race by gender interaction existed among women's basketball coaches competing in all three NCAA divisions. According to Kanter's (1977) homologous reproduction we hypothesized sex and race would separately impact hiring practices, and a race by gender interaction would occur. Consistent with previous research, we evaluated the coaching data based on the number of assistant coaches, and utilized Chi-square analyses to explore the differences of 976 institutions'. Results partially supported the hypothesis based on sex in that both men and women employed a greater proportion of women coaches. In terms of race, the hypothesis was also supported: White head coaches staffs were predominately White, and non-White head coaches were mostly non-White when more than one assistant coach was present. The race by gender interaction was also supported in that White women, non-White women, and non-White men employed the greatest proportions of the respective groups; White men's staff constituted mostly of White women. Alexander, Lisa Doris, Wayne State University ([email protected]) Sheryl Swoopes and the Intersection of Race, Gender, and Sexuality Sheryl Swoopes is the epitome of sporting excellence: she led the Houston Comets to four WNBA championships while earning three MVP awards and an Olympic Gold Medal. Given Swoopes' status, one would have assumed that when the star announced she is a lesbian in 2005, the media would have been all over the story. Prior to Swoopes' announcement, sportswriters had speculated that if a high-profile team-sport athlete came out during their career the announcement would lead to a media frenzy followed by fan's rejection, loss of sponsors, and a relatively quick end to said athlete's career. Swoopes' announcement made her the highest profile U.S. team-sport athlete to come out during their career but the news was treated like a non-story. If society is so obsessed with celebrity relationships, especially same-sex ones, what would account for the lack of interest in Swoopes' announcement?