International Review for the Sociology of Sport, Volume 59, Issue 2, Page 239-257, March 2024.
Scholars have increasingly called for the need to problematise and critically examine sport policy for integration/inclusion. This article aims to contribute to this ongoing debate by presenting a Foucauldian-inspired discourse analysis of the languaging of three decades of Norwegian sport policy for integration/inclusion, as well as non-sport policy that seeks to use sport as a policy tool. The analysis demonstrates how ideas and practices about the integration of ethnic minorities in sport are constructed in the shadows of the ‘real business’ of sport. Self-evident ‘Truths’ about inclusion/integration convey simplistic notions of assimilation into existing sport practices, reify notions of homogenous groups both with regard to the majority and the ethnic minority Norwegian population, distributing power unequally across the majority–minority divide, and contribute to construct sport as a racially coded, Eurocentric practice. The pervasive, long-standing idea that sport is inclusive works discursively to marginalise contradictory ideas, such as the complexities of integration that focus upon the need for a transformation of structures and practices, and ‘Truths’ like resourceful ethnic minorities or an adaptable sports organisation remain currently almost unthinkable. The analysis bears witness to scholars’ claims for the need to broaden research methodologies and policies for integration in/through sport, such that inequitable, Eurocentric, assimilated practices can be re-languaged to enable hybrid, transnational sports spaces frequented by resourceful participants.

Sexualities, Ahead of Print.
This empirical phenomenological study examines women’s sexual identity work in menopause. It shows that women’s self-understandings are at stake and take shape through a negotiation of dis/connectedness from/to others in sexual activities. Four negotiations are distinguished: (1) lessening with the other, (2) self-familiarizing (3) experimenting with others, and (4) giving oneself to the other. Herein, sexual identity work is revealed to be a precarious practice. In making sense of oneself, often through new sexual activities, women balance the tightrope of dis/connecting with others and norms, while facing the possibility that they may lose themselves and others in the process.

International Review for the Sociology of Sport, Volume 59, Issue 2, Page 278-297, March 2024.
Although athletes are considered the most important actors in training and competitions, many studies tend to view them as passive recipients of resources and opportunities that coaches and parents provide for them. This study investigates the active role that athletes might play in training by asking how athletes might proactively obtain opportunities on their own behalf when interacting with coaches. Through a 16-month ethnographic study of one elite Chinese basketball academy, I show that players’ class backgrounds shape their interactions with coaches, which in turn create different training experiences and athletic outcomes. Compared to their less-privileged peers, relatively privileged players not only respond to coaches’ directions more independently and actively, but also make requests to coaches more frequently and fluently. Relatively privileged players’ interaction strategies and behaviors give them advantages in meeting coaches’ implicit expectations in training by customizing the seemingly collectivist training programs in ways that fit their own needs. Consequently, they are more likely to elevate their athletic performances and prevent potential injuries in relation to their less-privileged teammates. The findings highlight the active role that athletes can play in sports training and new mechanisms through which stratifications are (re)produced in the field of professional sports.

International Review for the Sociology of Sport, Volume 59, Issue 2, Page 258-277, March 2024.
Representing the nation in sports mega events has become a highly contested issue with the acceleration of the transnational movement of athletes. This research has examined Chinese people's attitudes to the naturalization of football players. The article discusses the findings in the context of the qualifying stages for the 2022 FIFA Men's World Cup by presenting and analysing data collected from semi-structured interviews and social media extracts. Two main issues were debated by Chinese people concerning the identity of naturalized athletes. One was the ethnicity of the naturalized footballers in relation to nationality, with some people questioning whether they belong to China and can represent China. The other issue concerned the players’ skills and ability which influenced considerations of how much they could help China to qualify for the World Cup Finals. In relation to Chinese nationalism, national identity and Chinese sports, this study reveals, through the window provided by the presence of these naturalized footballers, how football, instrumentalism, nationalism and naturalization have been inextricably linked and have interacted with one another within the current context. The article analyses how pragmatic values have negotiated with ethno-cultural nationalism and impacted on the Chinese public's attitudes towards naturalized athletes, their image being presented in variable and dynamic ways by football fan netizens after each qualifying game.