Postponement of the EASS 2020 Conference

It is with great regret that we must inform you that the EASS 2020 Conference has to be postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

We have been closely monitoring the situation and, given the risks posed to travel and large gatherings, and our primary responsibility to the health and welfare of our students, our staff and our delegates, we feel that this is the right decision to make.

The organising committee fully appreciates what this decision means for delegates hoping to participate in the conference. We recognise both the financial implications and lost opportunities as a result of postponing the event. In light of this, please be assured that all delegates who have already registered will receive a full refund of their registration fee.

After discussing alternatives with the Executive Board of the EASS, we have agreed that the best course of action is to postpone the conference for a year. As such, we are provisionally planning to welcome you here to Solent University between the 17th and 20th May 2021. Given that participants’ research will inevitably move on in the coming months, we will issue a new call for papers in the autumn.

We would like to place on record our thanks to the EASS Organising Committee at the University of Physical Education in Budapest, who would have originally hosted the EASS conference in 2021, but have now kindly agreed to push their event back to accommodate the postponement.

We are sorry that we will not be seeing you all in May, but look forward to welcoming you to Southampton in 2021.

Sincerely,
The Organising Committee

Monday 18 - Thursday 21 May 2020

The School of Sport, Health and Social Sciences at Solent University is pleased to invite you to the 17th European Association for Sociology of Sport Conference. This is the first time the conference has been held in the UK and we look forward to welcoming you to Southampton.

We will be updating this page as event preparations continue - please check back for the latest news.

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Key dates

15 November 2019
Call for abstracts opens

21 February 2020 (deadline extended)
Deadline for abstract submissions

6 March 2020 onwards
Abstract notification

27 March 2020
Early bird registration deadline

17 April 2020
Deadline for payment to be published in Book of Abstracts

15 May 2020
Online registration closes

18 May 2020
EASS 2020 Conference begins

 European Association for Sociology of Sport logo

Call for abstracts

The theme for the EASS 2020 Conference is Sport, Diversity and Social Change. We welcome abstracts concerned with the main theme, but we also encourage contributions from a wide range of topics within the sociology of sports.

Increasingly, we live in a world where the importance of social justice is recognised. While its practice might not always be applied consistently, and, in some cases, ignored altogether, a celebration of diversity and commitment to equality are pivotal in promoting positive social change.

Sport and physical activity are vehicles that have both struggled with and drawn attention to issues relating to equality and diversity. While significant issues remain, it is within sport and physical activity that some of the general opportunities exist to challenging existing ways of thinking and behaving.

Taking the above into account, the organising committee of EASS 2020 invite scholars from across Europe and around the world to submit abstracts that explore the conference's core themes of Sport, Diversity and Social Change.

Beyond the main theme, the 17th European Association for the Sociology of Sport Conference will feature a broad range of sessions with the opportunity to share and discuss research concerned with sport and society within classical domains and newly emerging fields, including (but not limited to):

  • Sport and Social Theory
  • Sport, Policy and Governance
  • Sport, Power and Social Difference
  • School Sport and Physical Education
  • Sport and Gender
  • Sport and Sexuality
  • Sport and Globalisation
  • Sport, Environment and Sustainability
  • Sport and Media
  • Sport and Ethnicity
  • Sport and Ethics
  • Sport and Health
  • Sport and Doping
  • Sport and Technologies
  • Sport and Disability
  • Sport, Development and Peace
  • Youth Sport
  • E-Sports
  • Sport, Migration and Forced Migration (in cooperation with the European Sociological Association (ESA))
  • Methodological and Empirical Challenges on Sports and Physical Activity (in cooperation with the ESA)
  • Sport and Volunteering: Representations and Perspectives (in cooperation with the ESA)
  • Open Theme

 

The Conference will also feature special sessions:

  • SES (Sport Event Studies) network: Sport Events' Evolutions
  • SORN (Sport Organisation Research Network): Current Issues in Sport Organisation Research
  • POLIS (Policy and Politics in Sport) Network: Sport Policy and/for Persons with a Disability
  • POLIS network: Regional and Local Levels of Sport Politics
  • MEASURE (Meeting for European Sport Participation and Sport Culture Research) network: Explaining and Understanding Differences in Sport Participation
  • EJSS (European Journal for Sport and Society) symposium: Sport in the Anthropocene
  • ESA (European Sociological Association) special session: Sport and Bodies
  • ESA special session: The sociologist of sports, sports in sociology. A critical and reflective session
  • ESA special session: Health promotion, health and education, sports and physical activity
  • ESA special session: Social Fitness, new media and gamification
  • ESA special session: Physical activity, sports and social health determinants

Privacy notice

Delegate fees

Early bird registration*

Members: £350
Non-members: £450
Students: £200

*deadline 27 March 2020

Standard registration

Members: £400
Non-members: £500
Students: £250

Members of the ESA (European Sociological Association) are entitled to EASS member fees.

See Sterling/Euro exchange rates

A Boccia player in the sports hall in the Sports Complex

 

Keynote speakers

Shelley Alexander

Shelley Alexander

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Professor Elizabeth Pike

Professor Elizabeth Pike
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Dr Mark Doidge

Dr Mark Doidge
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Solent University contacts

Dr Philippa Velija

Dr Rory Magrath

Dr David Webber

Dr Ben Powis


Dr Dominic Malcolm
Chair of Scientific Committee, Loughborough University, UK

View Dominic's profile


For general questions about the conference, please contact us: eass2020@solent.ac.uk. 

Conference location

Solent University, The Spark Building, East Park Terrace, Southampton, SO14 0YN, UK

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Travel and accommodation information

Find out more about Southampton

Sport programmes

Solent's School of Sport, Health and Social Sciences offers a range of accredited sports degrees and other qualifications to over 2,000 students.

Research focussed

The School's staff are engaged in a number of research and consultancy activities as part of the University's Health and Wellbeing research area.

Working with industry

The School's staff consult across a broad range of sports teams and organisations in the UK and internationally, from grass roots to the pinnacle of elite sports.