Abstract
Taking as a reference the previous texts in this special issue of Sport, Education and Society, this paper contrasts a variety of structural strategies utilized by both the neoliberal and socio-critical camps in health and physical education (HPE) in order to forward their respective agendas. Moreover, it also theorizes about some possible reasons for the socio-cultural agenda’s stalemate. An analysis of the articles in the special issue reveals a striking imbalance between the neoliberal and socio-critical scaffoldings with a strategies’ ratio of more than seven to one in favor of the former; a key factor, it is argued, in sustaining the efficient and all-encompassing neoliberal operation. Lastly, the article provides some reflections regarding the sociocultural agenda within and beyond the limits of HPE and proposes a viable and necessary alternative.
Acknowledgement
I thank Jan Wright, Deana Leahy, and Dawn Penney for granting me the opportunity to write this commentary piece.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.