Current Sociology

Please welcome our Sociologist of the Month for June 2021, Hans Erik Næss (Kristiania University College, Norway). His article for Current Sociology, Sociology and the ethnography of human rights at mega-sport events is Free Access this month.

Hans Erik Næss

Could you please tell us about yourself? How did you come to your field of study?

H.E. Næss: I am an Associate Professor in Sport Management at Kristiania University College, Oslo, Norway, where I research sport organizations and lecture on leadership. Ever since I began studying history in 1999 I have been fascinated by the paradoxes of globalization – those which at the same creates community and individualism, trust and mistrust, innovation and tradition, diversity and homogenization, and so forth. Gradually I found societies more interesting than states, so I turned to sociology and popular culture, and then got into sport because it was a rich symbol on the paradoxes of globalization. At the same time I have always kept the interdisciplinary humanist in me, the one who seeks to explore what this or that phenomenon means to the quality of life to people.

What prompted you to research the area of your article, “Sociology and the ethnography of human rights at mega-sport events”?

H.E. Næss: I worked a couple of years in the civil sector with issues regarding cultural policy, global collaboration and freedom of expression, and what branches of the European Union could do to improve the situation within and outside Europe. Although my focus shifted to sport as popular culture for some years, I had to resume this line of thought when I discovered that the large sporting federations (FIFA, IOC, FIA) all struggled with the same paradoxes of globalization I had always been interested in. Dimensions of power, legitimacy and good governance stood out as central to the organizational tensions these federations were experiencing. Having gathered some fieldwork experience through my PhD thesis, and seeing some limitations of the index measurement trends in human rights, the article was an attempt to promote the value of on-the-ground research in a time where numerical values were being put on everything related to human rights.

What do you see as the key findings of your article?

H.E. Næss: The article was an attempt to promote two arguments at once. First, to do ethnographic research on sport events and human rights, one must engage with the institutional forces involved in human rights work as well as with the local circumstances in which these rights are meant to be implemented. Second, if this methodological consideration were combined with a sociological perspective on human rights, it could benefit sociology by – in theory – reducing traces of Eurocentric bias and methodological nationalism.

What are the wider social implications of your research in the current social climate? How do you think things will change in the future?

H.E. Næss: Hopefully, it contributes to a broader awareness of how the combination of ethnography and sociological theory can shed light on global phenomena, such as sport events. And with all the human rights engagement going on now within FIFA and others, changing the landscape of sport quite rapidly, it is vital that we as researchers maintain our watchdog function by developing our disciplines accordingly.

Do you have any links to images, documents or other pieces of research which build on or add to the article? Or a suggested reading list?

H.E. Næss: My top 3 reads related to my own article:
- McGillivray, D., Edwards, M.B., Brittain, I., Bocarro, J. & Koenigstorfer, J. (2019). A conceptual model and research agenda for bidding, planning and delivering Major sport events that lever human rights, Leisure Studies, 38(2), 175-190, https://doi.org/10.1080/02614367.2018.1556724
- Darnell, S. C., Chawansky, M., Marchesseault, D., Holmes, M. & Hayhurst, L. (2018). The State of Play: Critical sociological insights into recent ‘Sport for Development and Peace’ research. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 53(2), 133–151, https://doi.org/10.1177/1012690216646762
- Wise, N. (2016). In the shadow of mega-events: The value of ethnography in sports geography. In N. Koch (Ed.), Critical Geographies of Sport (220-234). London: Routledge.