This conference explores the intersections of (im-)mobility and sport within the Global South, examining how displacement, transnational connections, and localized adaptations shape sporting experiences, identities, and opportunities. We aim to critically engage with issues such as globalization, socio-political inequalities, and resistance in sport, emphasizing how bodies in motion—whether through migration, sport participation, or everyday physical practices—both shape and are shaped by broader social structures.

Bridging perspectives from sports sociology and body studies, this theme highlights the interplay between embodiment, mobility, and global inequalities. It challenges the conventional focus on elite and performance sports by incorporating insights into physical cultures, grassroots movements, and lived bodily experiences, shedding light on underrepresented narratives within the sporting landscape.

This mid-term conference welcomes contributions from researchers, educators, students, professionals and practitioners in the field of sport and physical activity. The event will focus on the challenges facing sport and physical activity in the Global South and how this in turn affects the Global North, the key issues in the transition between these two worlds, as well as lessons learned and future perspectives. Critical and in-depth reflection on these issues is essential not only for understanding emerging dynamics, but also for guiding and shaping future transformations in the social and cultural landscapes of global sport.

While the focus of the conference lies on the intersections of (im-)mobility and sport within the Global South, the conference will also feature a wide range of sessions to allow sharing and discussing the latest research experiences, including (but not limited to):

• Sport, migration and forced migration
• Sport and power relations, conflict and resilience
• Sport in Global South and Global North
• Sport, race and ethnicity
• Social inclusion and exclusion in and through sport
• Sport, climate, change and sustainability
• Physical education and sport in the setting of school
• Sport, colonialism, nation and identities
• Sport, body and gender
• Sport for development and peace
• Health promotion and education in and through sports and physical activity
• Methodological and empirical challenges to sport and physical activity research
• E-Sports, old and new media and gamification
• Sport, activism and social movements.
• Sport, politics and policy
• Sport management, business and governance
• Sport events, spectatorship and fandom

İstanbul Bilgi University, with the support of the Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University Sociology Department and the SAHADAYIZ Association will organise the midterm conference of the ESA RN-28 in hybrid form (both online and in presence) on April 3-4, 2026 at the İstanbul Bilgi University (Turkey).

Proposals should be submitted in English via the organising committee’s submission system (not yet online) before November 1, 2025, followed by registration on the conference website. They should include a title, the author(s)’s institutional affiliation and an abstract of 250 words (bibliography excluded). An author can be the first author only once and co-author twice. After the evaluation of the scientific committee, the authors will receive feedback before January, 1, 2026. Registration will be open until February 15, 2026. All the participants have to register on the conference website (not participating co-authors do not need registration).

Key dates:

Abstract submission: September 1, 2025 to November, 1, 2025 (deadline)

Feedback on abstract: latest January 1, 2026

Registration: January 1, 2026 to February 15, 2026

Fees:

For researchers from Ukraine the registration fee is free.

In presence and online:

Members (ESA RN28): young researchers (university and PhD students): 10€; senior researchers (post-docs, assistant and full professors): 50 €

Non-Members (ESA RN28): young researchers (university and PhD students): 20€; senior researchers (post-docs, assistant and full professors): 75€

Further information on the conference click here.