title: Playing with ethics?: A Foucauldian examination of the construction ethical subjectivities in Ultimate Frisbee

authors: Crocket, Hamish Robert

subjects: Foucault

abstract: Links between instrumental rationality and problematic sporting subjectivities are well established (e.g., Beamish & Ritchie, 2006; Donnelly, 1996; Hughes & Coakley, 1991). In recent years, however, critical scholars have taken an increasing interest in how athletes and coaches might find ways of problematizing their involvement in sport and thus discover new ways of understanding their participation (e.g., Denison, 2010; Douglas & Carless, 2006, 2009; Markula & Pringle, 2006; Pringle & Hickey, 2010; Shogan, 2007). Markula and Pringle (2006), Pringle and Hickey (2010), and Shogan (2007) have adopted a Foucauldian perspective to examine how those involved in sport and exercise might undertake a process of ethical self-creation.

This interest in the formation of ethical sporting subjectivities resonated closely with my own experiences as an athlete and coach, and, in particular, my experiences within the sport, Ultimate Frisbee (Ultimate). Subsequently, I was drawn to ask the Foucauldian question: “what forms of problematization and practices of self underpin Ultimate players’ creation of an ethical self through an aesthetics of existence?” To examine this question I undertook an ethnographic study of Ultimate, comprising two years of fieldwork as a participant-observer, interviews with fourteen Ultimate players and textual analysis of Ultimate media. I specifically sought to analyse my work using Foucauldian theory and the ethical turn within French postmodernism.
I found a heterogeneous process of ethical self-creation to be evident amongst Ultimate players. Of particular importance in this process were players’ multiple understandings of Spirit of the Game, which I interpreted as a postmodern telos, and their ongoing engagement in  practices of self, which were “not something invented by the individual himself [sic]. [Rather] they are models he finds in his culture” (Foucault, 2000a, p. 291). However, I found that differences in players’ interpretations of these practices of self, in combination with a few players who appeared to reject these practices, meant Ultimate was not free from conflict, disagreement, or controversy. Ultimate, then, was not an ethical utopia; rather, it offered players possibilities to create their selves as ethical subjects. I added complexity to this understanding of ethics by reconsidering Ultimate through the ethics of the Other. Drawing on Derrida’s tactics of clôtural reading, aporia and justice, I theorized ethically problematic aspects of Ultimate which had not been revealed within my Foucauldian analysis.
In this thesis I support moves to integrate postmodern ethical perspectives and subjectivities within sociological studies of sport. Such analyses take seriously the ethical perspectives that individuals and groups have and seek to examine how these understandings influence their sense of self. At the same time, however, ethics is revealed to always be partial and incomplete. In this sense, ethics is a performative project without end. The sociology of ethics which I undertake in this thesis offers possibilities not only for understanding questions of how sporting subjectivities are currently created, but also for considering possibilities of how these subjectivities might be formed differently in the future.

text: Playing with ethics?: A Foucauldian examination of the construction ethical subjectivities in Ultimate Frisbee Links between instrumental rationality and problematic sporting subjectivities are well established (e.g., Beamish & Ritchie, 2006; Donnelly, 1996; Hughes & Coakley, 1991). In recent years, however, critical scholars have taken an increasing interest in how athletes and coaches might find ways of problematizing their involvement in sport and thus discover new ways of understanding their participation (e.g., Denison, 2010; Douglas & Carless, 2006, 2009; Markula & Pringle, 2006; Pringle & Hickey, 2010; Shogan, 2007). Markula and Pringle (2006), Pringle and Hickey (2010), and Shogan (2007) have adopted a Foucauldian perspective to examine how those involved in sport and exercise might undertake a process of ethical self-creation.

This interest in the formation of ethical sporting subjectivities resonated closely with my own experiences as an athlete and coach, and, in particular, my experiences within the sport, Ultimate Frisbee (Ultimate). Subsequently, I was drawn to ask the Foucauldian question: “what forms of problematization and practices of self underpin Ultimate players’ creation of an ethical self through an aesthetics of existence?” To examine this question I undertook an ethnographic study of Ultimate, comprising two years of fieldwork as a participant-observer, interviews with fourteen Ultimate players and textual analysis of Ultimate media. I specifically sought to analyse my work using Foucauldian theory and the ethical turn within French postmodernism.
I found a heterogeneous process of ethical self-creation to be evident amongst Ultimate players. Of particular importance in this process were players’ multiple understandings of Spirit of the Game, which I interpreted as a postmodern telos, and their ongoing engagement in  practices of self, which were “not something invented by the individual himself [sic]. [Rather] they are models he finds in his culture” (Foucault, 2000a, p. 291). However, I found that differences in players’ interpretations of these practices of self, in combination with a few players who appeared to reject these practices, meant Ultimate was not free from conflict, disagreement, or controversy. Ultimate, then, was not an ethical utopia; rather, it offered players possibilities to create their selves as ethical subjects. I added complexity to this understanding of ethics by reconsidering Ultimate through the ethics of the Other. Drawing on Derrida’s tactics of clôtural reading, aporia and justice, I theorized ethically problematic aspects of Ultimate which had not been revealed within my Foucauldian analysis.
In this thesis I support moves to integrate postmodern ethical perspectives and subjectivities within sociological studies of sport. Such analyses take seriously the ethical perspectives that individuals and groups have and seek to examine how these understandings influence their sense of self. At the same time, however, ethics is revealed to always be partial and incomplete. In this sense, ethics is a performative project without end. The sociology of ethics which I undertake in this thesis offers possibilities not only for understanding questions of how sporting subjectivities are currently created, but also for considering possibilities of how these subjectivities might be formed differently in the future.

year: 2012

title: Strategic marketing practices as drivers of successful business performance in British, Australian and New Zealand golf clubs

authors: Brooksbank, Roger

subjects: strategic marketing planning

abstract: Little is known about the uptake of strategic marketing planning in golf clubs. Thus, based on a sample of 307 Australian, New Zealand and British golf clubs, this study examines the application of the normative model of strategic marketing planning and its associated marketing practices to golf club administration. Using information derived from golf club managers/secretaries, it investigates both the extent to which strategic marketing practices have been adopted as well as their contribution to golf organisation business performance. The results are highly supportive of the conventional wisdom as to the ingredients of strategic marketing success. Compared with their lower performing counterparts, the higher performing golf clubs are clearly more active in executing a wide range of strategic marketing practices. However, the results also indicate that there is much scope for golf clubs to do more and better strategic marketing. In the face of a challenging operating environment golf club management can take heart from these results: embracing strategic marketing planning is a beneficial business practice that can help improve long-term club viability.

text: Strategic marketing practices as drivers of successful business performance in British, Australian and New Zealand golf clubs Little is known about the uptake of strategic marketing planning in golf clubs. Thus, based on a sample of 307 Australian, New Zealand and British golf clubs, this study examines the application of the normative model of strategic marketing planning and its associated marketing practices to golf club administration. Using information derived from golf club managers/secretaries, it investigates both the extent to which strategic marketing practices have been adopted as well as their contribution to golf organisation business performance. The results are highly supportive of the conventional wisdom as to the ingredients of strategic marketing success. Compared with their lower performing counterparts, the higher performing golf clubs are clearly more active in executing a wide range of strategic marketing practices. However, the results also indicate that there is much scope for golf clubs to do more and better strategic marketing. In the face of a challenging operating environment golf club management can take heart from these results: embracing strategic marketing planning is a beneficial business practice that can help improve long-term club viability.

year: 2012

title: Bilingual/immersion education in Aotearoa/New Zealand: Setting the context.

authors: May, Stephen

subjects: bilingual education

abstract: Introduction to a special issue of IJBEB, focusing on recent developments in bilingual/
immersion education in Aotearoa/New Zealand, particularly, but not solely,
Maori-medium education.

text: Bilingual/immersion education in Aotearoa/New Zealand: Setting the context. Introduction to a special issue of IJBEB, focusing on recent developments in bilingual/
immersion education in Aotearoa/New Zealand, particularly, but not solely,
Maori-medium education.

year: 2005-01-01