Beyond the Vibrant Traces of Perform(ance/ativity): Curricular Thread(ing)s of Sports Uniforms

• In Event: Theorizing Curriculum Through Popular Culture and Media

Abstract

This paper explores the interwoven relationship(s) between matter, materiality, consumerism, politics, geography, social justice, and professional sports. Taking a new materialist approach (Bennett, 2009; Coole & Frost, 2010), we engage with the vibrancy of uniforms in an effort to contemplate and conceptualize a “fuller range of the nonhuman powers circulating around and within human bodies” (Bennett, 2009, p. ix). By considering the (threaded) thing-power of professional sports uniforms, we ask: To what end do uniforms ethically represent each (geographical) community? And, how do the contexts in which the jersey were produced/released influence the (threaded) thing power that is produced?

Authors

• Bretton A. Varga, California State University - Chico

• Tommy Ender, Rhode Island College

• Andrea M. Hawkman, Rowan University