Ableism as a regulator of social practice and disabled peoples’ self-determination to participate in sport and physical activity

ABSTRACT

Building on the theories of ableism, social practice and self-determination, this article proposes a framework to aid explaining why disabled people (DP) are less likely to access and participate in sport and physical activity (S&PA). We argue that ableism acts as a regulatory mechanism for each of the elements (habitus, capital and field) and different forms of capital (social, cultural, economic and symbolic) of Bourdieu’s concept of social practice. In addition, we argue that this regulation of social practice also impacts the possibility for DP to self-determine their access to and participation in S&PA due to their perceived competence, autonomy and relatedness. In turn, we also acknowledge that ableism can impact directly upon self-determination and that social practice within the arena of S&PA may reinforce ableist perceptions.

KEYWORDS:

• Ableism
• disabled people
• social practice
• social capital
• self-determination
• sport and physical activity

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the H2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions [Research and Innovation grant agreement no. 823815].

Notes on contributors

Ian Brittain

Ian Brittain, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Centre for Business in Society at Coventry Business School. He is an internationally recognised expert in the study of disability and Paralympic sport and has attended the last five summer Paralympic Games in Sydney, Athens, Beijing, London and Rio. He is an experienced researcher and is widely published in a variety of books/book chapters and journals. He has presented at a variety of national and international conferences and has been successful in a number of large grant applications. These include a Marie Curie International Research Staff Exchange Scheme bid worth €852.600 on managing the impact of mega-events, a 4-year Marie Curie Research and Innovation Staff Exchange (RISE) project looking at human rights, diversity and inclusion in the sporting mega-event bidding and hosting process worth €772,800, and, more recently, an ESRC UK-Japan Social Science and Humanities Connections grant worth £44,100.

Rui Biscaia

Rui Biscaia, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the School of Marketing and Marketing and Management and an Associate Member of Centre for Business in Society, Coventry University. His research interests include sport participation and spectatorship, brand management, sponsorship and mega sport events. He is co-principal investigator of a Marie Curie Research and Innovation Staff Exchange on ‘Addressing inequality, enhancing diversity and facilitating greater dialogue in the hosting of sporting mega events’. His work has appeared in journals such as the International Journal of Clinical and Health Psychology, European Sport Management Quarterly, Journal of Sport Management, Sport Management Review, International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship, Sport Marketing Quarterly, among others.

Simon Gérard

Simon Gérard, PhD, is a Lecturer in sport management in the School of Marketing and Management, Coventry University. His research interests focus organisation theory, sport governance and disability sports management. He has published his work in various journals and has recently authored several book chapters in the Routledge Handbook of Football Business and Management or the Research Handbook on Sports Governance among others. He presented his research at major international scientific conferences such as the European Academy of Management (EURAM), European Group for Organisation in Studies (EGOS) and the European Association for Sport Management (EASM)