Sport, Forced Migration and the 'Refugee Crisis'

ByEnrico Michelini

Drawing on original research, this book looks at what sport can tell us about the social processes, patterns and outcomes of forced migration and the ‘refugee crisis’. The book explores four key aspects of sport’s intersection with forced migration. Firstly, it looks at how the media covers sport in relation to the ‘refugee crisis’, specifically coverage of refugee elite athletes. Secondly, it examines the adaptation of sport organisations to the ‘refugee crisis’, including the culture, programmes and structures that promote or obstruct sport for refugees. Thirdly, the book looks at sport in refugee sites, and how sport can be used as therapy, an escape or empowerment for refugees but also how it can reinforce the divisions between staff and the refugees themselves. Finally, the book looks at how forced migration influences and is influenced by participation in elite sport, by examining the biographies of elite migrant athletes.

London: Routledge, 2023. 142p.