The migration of gymnastics coaches from the Former Soviet Union to New Zealand: an actor–network theory perspective

ABSTRACT

This article uses actor–network theory (ANT) to examine factors that influenced highly skilled gymnastics coaches from the gymnastics stronghold of the Former Soviet Union to migrate to the geographically and culturally distant nation of New Zealand. Our research diverges from the emphasis on the professional sports labour market that has dominated sports migration research and extends upon the network-orientated approaches that have recently been utilised in sport. The article is informed by the stories of 10 migrant gymnastics coaches obtained through qualitative interviews. We demonstrate how the ANT approach helps reveal how multiple micro- and macro-factors assembled together to motivate and facilitate the coaches’ migration. While economic factors can be identified, we draw attention to a unique facet that has received little previous attention in the sports migration literature: the non-human. We show how the coaches’ migration was facilitated by non-humans such as a disease, Skype, leotards and work visas and that these non-humans played a role in enabling or disrupting migration.

KEYWORDS:

• Migration
• coaches
• gymnastics
• actor–network theory
• Latour

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Roslyn Kerr

Roslyn Kerr is a senior lecturer in Sociology of Sport at Lincoln University in Christchurch, New Zealand. She has been researching women’s gymnastics since 2001 and published numerous articles and book chapters examining gymnastics from both sociological and historical perspectives, using a range of theoretical ideas. She is also a specialist in actor–network theory and has authored: Kerr, R. (2016), Sport and Technology: an Actor-Network Theory Perspective.

Camilla Obel

Camilla Obel is an adjunct senior lecturer at Lincoln University, Christchurch, New Zealand. She has a PhD in Sociology and has published previously in the areas of sports governance, migration, ethnicity, nationalism, gender and embodiment, disability, fanship and sport facilities.