Testing for athlete citizenship: regulating doping and sex in sport

Few sports’ spectators realize that a global regulatory network is in place in an attempt to ensure ideals of fair play. But the athletes caught and punished for doping are not always the ones using performance-enhancing drugs to cheat. In the case of female athletes, violations of fair play can stem from their inherent biological traits. In Testing for Athlete Citizenship: Regulating Doping And Sex In Sport, Kathryn Henne traces the development of technocratic rules aimed at controlling performance enhancement in international sports, combining historical and ethnographic approaches.

Henne draws on research conducted in Australasia, Europe, and North America to explain how race, gender, class, and postcolonial formations of power shape ideas and regulatory practices in this field. She makes the case for rethinking the power of regulation in sports and how it separates athletes into a distinct class of citizens subject to a unique set of rules because of their physical attributes and abilities.

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Dr Kathryn Henne is a Senior Research Fellow and Head of Postgraduate Programs in the Regulatory Institutions Network. Her research interests encompass issues of inequality, technology and regulation.

We will also welcome Dr Vanessa McDermott, a Research Fellow in the College of Design and Social Context at RMIT, and Dr Ramón Spaaij, an Associate Professor at Victoria University in the College of Sport and Exercise Science. Each will offer their expert views on Kate’s book.