The bigger picture

The political question of which bodies are recognised as athletic, whose movement is recognised as serious, and who profits from athletic labour, has been continuously contested across the modern era. Different political traditions have answered the question differently, and the contemporary sport and fitness sector inherits all of those political histories at once.

The Trinidadian historian and political writer C.L.R. James, in his book on cricket, argued that sport was never just sport. The political conditions of who plays, who watches, who umpires, and who is paid, are political conditions inseparable from the political histories of class, race, colonialism, and nation. The argument reaches Australian sport through the political conditions of cricket, rugby, football, and Australian rules football, all of which inherited British political settlements about sport and were reshaped by Australian political contests about race, gender, and class.

The American political philosopher Iris Marion Young documented in detail how the political conditions of athletic embodiment are gendered, how the political project of producing girls who throw, run, and move in particular ways operates as a political achievement of childhood socialisation rather than a natural fact about gendered bodies. The political analysis reaches Australian sport and fitness through the politics of women's participation, of girls' sport, of women-only fitness spaces, and of trans-inclusion contests.

The colonial transfer

Sport and fitness in colonial Australia inherited British political settlements about athletics, recreation, and physical culture. The political distinction between gentleman amateur and working-class professional, the political conditions of public schools as sport-production sites, and the political assumption that organised sport was a project of British civilisation, were all transmitted into Australia through schools, clubs, and military traditions.

What that political vision excluded is part of the history. First Nations athletic traditions, including ceremonial movement, hunting practice, and sporting forms developed over millennia, were not recognised by colonial Australian sport. The political project of barring First Nations athletes from many Australian competitions until well into the twentieth century did political work that continues to reach contemporary sport.

The political conditions of women's sport in colonial Australia were significantly constrained. The political assumption that vigorous athletic activity was inappropriate for women's bodies shaped what women could participate in for decades, and the political legacy of that assumption continues to do political work in contemporary fitness contests.

The mass spectator sport settlement

The post-war political settlement extended sport at scale. The Australian football competitions, the rugby leagues, cricket, and tennis all developed mass spectator structures during this period. The political conditions of professionalisation, of broadcasting rights, and of the political relationship between sport and national identity were established.

The mass spectator settlement was a political achievement, contested in detail. The political contests about Aboriginal participation in mainstream sport, about women's sport recognition, about the political conditions of migrant communities entering sporting cultures, were all live through this period and continue to be contested.

The political conditions of fitness as a separate industry developed in the late twentieth century. Aerobics, gym culture, and personal training emerged largely from American political conditions and transmitted into Australia through trade flows, magazines, and migration. The political assumption that fitness was a private matter, undertaken by individuals for individual benefit, was a particular political settlement, with broad political consequences for how exercise was understood.

The neoliberal turn

From the 1980s, a different political settlement began to assert itself in sport and fitness. Sport became increasingly commercialised, with broadcasting rights, sponsorship, and merchandise reshaping what sport was for. Fitness became increasingly marketised, with private gyms, paid personal trainers, and the political conversion of fitness into a consumer service.

The political conditions of athletic labour reflected this turn. The political contests about athletes as workers, about pay equity in women's sport, about the political conditions of athlete welfare and career sustainability, all developed within the neoliberal political settlement.

The body politics moment

The political conversation about bodies in sport and fitness has intensified across the past decade. The political question of trans inclusion in women's sport, of women's-only fitness spaces, and of gender-based eligibility, has become globally contested. The political settlement is unresolved and the contest is ongoing.

The political conversation about eating disorders, body image, and the conditions of athletic culture has also intensified. The political settlement on duty of care, on athlete welfare, and on the political conditions of disordered eating in athletic contexts is moving.

The political conversation about concussion and player welfare in contact sport has reshaped what operators must do. Long-term player welfare, head injury protocols, and brain injury politics are reshaping rugby, football, AFL, and other contact sports.

The present moment

The trans-inclusion contest, the child safety political moment, and the political backlash are reshaping sport and fitness now.

The trans-inclusion political contest is intensifying globally, with significant Australian implications for clubs, gyms, federations, and operators. The political settlement is unresolved and is being negotiated in different forms across multiple sports and fitness contexts.

The child safety and sexual misconduct political moment reaches coaching, junior sport, and fitness settings through ongoing inquiry findings, regulatory reform, and the political pressure on clubs to demonstrate safe practice. The political conditions of safeguarding are tightening continuously.

The political backlash against feminist, queer, trans, racial-justice, and First Nations recognition reaches the sector through coach behaviour, club culture, and political pressure on inclusive practice.