Affect and emotions in sports work: a research agenda

Abstract

Affect and emotions are integral to everyday social life, and they have, in recent years, been the subject of increased sociological theorising. Despite significant mainstream advances in the study of affect and emotions in formal and informal organisations, sports work is largely understood and practiced as a technocratic, disembodied, and linear activity. Indeed, while an embryonic body of literature has provided useful insights regarding the micropolitical dimensions of sports work, the role of affect and emotions and their related implications for sports workers remain little understood. To attend to this lacuna, this paper brings together in conversation select theorisations of affect and emotions to highlight how they might be productively drawn upon to (a) advance our understanding of sports work and, relatedly, (b) promote the development of more ethical sports work practices on the other.