(Lack of) government policy for indigenous (Sámi) sport : A chain of legitimating and de-legitimating acts

• Published in: International Review for the Sociology of Sport
• Main Authors: Skille, Eivind Å., Fahlén, Josef, Stenling, Cecilia, Strittmatter, Anna-Maria
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Norway Inland University of Applied Sciences, Norway 2022
• Subjects: Indigenous sport; legitimation acts; Norway; sport policy; sport organization; Pedagogy; Pedagogik; Sámi
• Online Access: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:oru:diva-110387; https://doi.org/10.1177/1012690220988650

While colonization as policy is formally a historic phenomenon in Norway and elsewhere, many former structures of state organization – including their relationship to sport – remain under post-colonial conditions. This paper is concerned with how the Norwegian government contributes to creating a situation, which includes the Norwegian sports confederation (NIF) but excludes the indigenous people Sámi's sports organisation. Based on existing data and literature, we analyse how the state favours NIF through a chain of legitimating acts. Thus, sport is a preserve of colonization, where a one-sided legitimation parallels a de-legitimation of the overarching sport policy goal of sport-for-all. However, there are signs of change whereby actors are challenging NIF’s monopoly and 'older' state-sport regimes.