News
Call for Papers (Special Issue): Theories, Sport, and the Global South
Overview
Overview
We are pleased to announce a call for papers for the special issue "Theories, Sport, and the Global South," to be published in the Journal of Global South Sport Studies (JGSSS). This special issue seeks to explore the development, application, and critique of theoretical frameworks in sports scholarship, with a specific focus on perspectives emanating from the Global South. As underscored by various scholars, theory symbolizes the central aim of science (Kerlinger & Lee, 2000), serving as the currency of scholarship (Corley & Gioia, 2011) and the foundation for advancing knowledge and informing practice (Cunningham, 2013). Nonetheless, sport scholarship, especially sport management research, has historically been dominated by Eurocentric paradigms (Hussain, 2021; Singer, 2005), often neglecting the diverse socio-cultural contexts of the Global South. Moreover, Chen and Mason (2019) advocated for necessary epistemological reorientation, one that critically recognizes how sport management research is inextricably linked to settler colonial structures and how this relationship shapes the extant knowledge production. Therefore, this special issue aims to address current gaps by inviting contributions that challenge hegemonic frameworks, decolonize sports theory, and foreground the multiplicity of sporting experiences in regions such as South Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America. The overall purpose of this special issue is to center the Global South voices as a primary lens by avoiding the essentialist, colonized, unfair, and Westernized perspectives.
Key objectives include:
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Examining how existing theories (e.g., Agency Theory, Stakeholder Theory, the Theory of Planned Behavior, Social Identity Theory, the Social Reproduction Framework, Intersectionality, Critical Race Theory, Internal Colonization, Settler Colonialism, World-Systems-Theory, Identity Theory, among others) used in sport management and sociology of sport can be adapted or critiqued when applied to the Global South contexts.
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Developing new theoretical frameworks rooted in the Global South's lived experiences, cultural values, and historical realities.
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Exploring the interplay between sport, identity, and power structures, challenging the Eurocentrism that homogenizes the extant scholarship.
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Investigating how sport in the Global South can inform practice, policy, and pedagogy on a global scale.
Type of Invited Scholarship
- Examining how existing theories (e.g., Agency Theory, Stakeholder Theory, the Theory of Planned Behavior, Social Identity Theory, the Social Reproduction Framework, Intersectionality, Critical Race Theory, Internal Colonization, Settler Colonialism, World-Systems-Theory, Identity Theory, among others) used in sport management and sociology of sport can be adapted or critiqued when applied to the Global South contexts.
- Developing new theoretical frameworks rooted in the Global South's lived experiences, cultural values, and historical realities.
- Exploring the interplay between sport, identity, and power structures, challenging the Eurocentrism that homogenizes the extant scholarship.
- Investigating how sport in the Global South can inform practice, policy, and pedagogy on a global scale.
Type of Invited Scholarship
We welcome qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-method research, as well as theoretical and conceptual papers. However, all submissions should center the Global South as a primary lens, avoiding the essentialist, colonized, unfair, and Westernized perspectives.
Themes and Topics
We invite submissions to that address, but are not limited to the following themes:
- Sport, Decoloniality, and Postcoloniality
- Indigenous Knowledge and Decolonial Praxis in Sport
- Theory Development from Grassroots Community Sources
- Sport and Social Structures
- Consumer Behavior and Marketing in the Global South
- Sport as a Site of Resistance and Identity
- Intersectionality in Global South Sport
- Sport and Power: Neoliberalism, and Global Inequities
- Transforming Sport Policy and Pedagogy: A Global South Lens
- Sport Management as a field of Global North Epistemic Violence
- Sport Management and Eurocentric Elitism
Submission Guidelines
Final manuscript should be between 7,500 and 9,000 words, including references, formatted per JGSSS guidelines (https://scholarworks.umb.edu/jgsss/) Please submit an abstract of 250 words and up to six keywords before submitting the final document.
Important Dates
- Abstract Submission Deadline: May 1, 2025 (submit a 250-word proposal outlining the theoretical contribution and Global South focus) (submit your abstracts to this email: globalsouthsportstudies@gmail.com; umer.hussain@wilkes.edu)
- Notification of Acceptance: June 15, 2025.
- Full Paper Submission Deadline: October 30, 2025.
- Expected Publication Date: March 2026.
We look forward to your contributions to this transformative dialogue in sport scholarship.