John Gleaves Associate Professor - California State University Fullerton |
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04.09.2017-29.09.2017
The Sporting Prometheus: Narratives of Fear and Promise in Anti-Doping Policy Discourse
Early research indicates that three major groups shaped anti-doping policy. Firstly, the IOC and its various National Olympic Committees (NOCs) who defined international and national anti-doping policies. Secondly, WADA, which governs anti-doping policy for almost all sport throughout the globe. Thirdly, national governments: USA, Spain, Denmark, France, and many others, have passed laws against doping. Policy research can prove methodologically difficult since policy makers often work behind closed doors. Fortunately, the IOC, WADA and many governments have archives that provide materials for examining these processes. Such archives include the IOC Archives (Lausanne, Switzerland), the USOC Archives (Colorado Springs, Colorado), British Olympic Association Archives (Kew, United Kingdom), University of Texas’ Stark Center Ungerleider Collection (Austin, Texas) and the US State Department Archives (Washington D.C.). While at the Brocher Foundation, I will access the IOC archives to systematically examine all documents related to anti-doping policy at these archives including meeting minutes, personal correspondences, and press releases as well as other relevant materials. Textual analysis will be used to identify anecdotal narratives that policy makers cited during policy creation.
Once certain narratives emerge, the research team will then examine what, if any, evidence supported these narratives and examine media and academic sources that correspond chronologically to the narratives citation date. Researches will also examine academic sources for later analysis of these narratives authenticity, as many narratives have later been shown to be false or based on unsubstantiated claims. The findings from document analysis and evidence confirmation will then be compared to the Promethean framework.