Call for Contributions | Lecture Series | Sport. Politics. Conflict. Entanglements of Hard and Soft Power

Sport. Politics. Conflict. Entanglements of Hard and Soft Power |
Sport. Politik. Konflikt. Verflechtungen der ‚harten‘ und ‚weichen‘ Macht

Taking its cue from the men's FIFA World Cup hosted by the USA, Canada and Mexico, the ScienceCampus is organizing a lecture series at the University of Regensburg in summer semester 2026. We welcome proposals for papers from colleagues in Regensburg and beyond. Submit you ideas for talks by 15 September 2025. An outline of the lecture series and a call for proposals, including some suggested themes, can be found below. We of course welcome further themes and ideas beyond these suggestions. Talks can be in English or German. A German version of the outline and call can be found here.

Anlässlich der FIFA-Weltmeisterschaft der Männer, die 2026 von den USA, Kanada und Mexiko ausgetragen wird, organisiert der ScienceCampus im Sommersemester 2026 eine Ringvorlesung an der Universität Regensburg. Wir freuen uns über Vorschläge für Vorträge von Kolleginnen und Kollegen aus Regensburg und darüber hinaus. Reichen Sie Ihre Ideen für Vorträge bis zum 15. September 2025 ein. Einen Abstract der Ringvorlesungund eine Ausschreibung mit einigen Themenvorschlägen finden Sie in der englischen Sprace unten. Wir freuen uns natürlich über weitere Themen und Ideen, die über diese Vorschläge hinausgehen. Die Vorträge können auf Englisch oder Deutsch gehalten werden. Eine deutsche Version der Übersicht und der Ausschreibung finden Sie hier.

Lecture Series Outline

What do Jesse Owens’ in Berlin in 1936, Apartheid-era rugby, the Black Power salute of 1968, and recent World Cups in autocratic states have in common? They show that sport is never just about fun and games. It can be a battleground for power, identity, propaganda – and resistance.

From ancient Olympic truces to modern-day sportswashing, the fields and stadiums of the world have long been stages for projecting both hard and soft power. Sport entertains – but it also builds nations, reinforces ideologies, and ignites global debate. Whether through Cold War boycotts, Slavic Sokol movements, Jewish Maccabi clubs, or the international bans against apartheid South Africa or Putin’s Russia, sport has mirrored – and shaped –political and cultural struggle.

Today, the entanglements run deeper and faster. Gender, race, and class debates play out in real time. Fans rally on TikTok, athletes go viral for their protests, and digital platforms redefine how sport is experienced and exploited. From grassroots teams to global mega-events, the body, the brand, the nation, and geopolitics are tightly intertwined.

This lecture series brings together voices from history, media studies, sociology, economics law, and beyond – alongside journalists, athletes, and cultural critics. Taking its cue from debates around the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the US, Mexico and Canada, the series adopts a broad temporal and spatial approach to the intersections of sport, politics and conflict.

Open to students, researchers and the public, the interdisciplinary lecture series offers a chance to explore how sport intersects with identity, ideology, and global power.

Call for Speakers

Sport is often framed as a universal language, a neutral ground for play, pride, and performance. Yet from Jesse Owens in 1936 Berlin to the Black Power salute in 1968, from apartheid-era sports boycotts to today’s billion-dollar mega-events and online fan cultures, sport has also been a deeply political arena – shaped by and shaping global power relations.

This interdisciplinary lecture series, to be hosted in summer semester 2026 by the Leibniz ScienceCampus Europe and America in the Modern World, in Regensburg, invites scholars, journalists, practitioners, and cultural commentators to explore the global entanglements of sport with conflict, diplomacy, identity, and propaganda. We are particularly interested in how sport functions as a conduit of both hard and soft power—across time, regions, and political contexts.

Suggested topics include.

• Athlete activism and protest, from historical moments to contemporary movements
• Race, gender, class and the body in sport and media representation
• Nation-building through sport: from local clubs to international competitions
• Sport and authoritarian regimes: spectacle, legitimacy, resistance, and boycotts
• Migration, diaspora, and belonging in and through sport
• Digital sport: esports, fan engagement, and the mediatization of play
• Global sporting events, sportswashing and human rights: FIFA, the Olympics, Apartheid, and beyond
• Environmental, legal, or economic dimensions of sport as global enterprise

We welcome case studies from any region or era, and especially encourage proposals with comparative or transnational scope. Contributions from disciplines including (but not limited to) history, media and cultural studies, sociology, law, anthropology, political science, and economics are all welcome.

Submission Guidelines:

Please send a short abstract (150-200 words), a brief bio (max. 150 words), and your institutional affiliation to campus@europeamerica.de by 15 September 2025. Contributions may be in English or German. Please indicate if you have any preferences for particular dates.

Selected speakers will be invited to present in person in Regensburg during the 2026 summer semester (mid-April to late July 2026). Talks are scheduled for Wednesdays, 14:00-16:00 on the UR campus.

For further information or questions, please contact: Dr. Paul Vickers, Leibniz-ScienceCampus – campus@europeamerica.de