Sport and Psychoanalysis

This book unveils the hidden secrets of psychoanalytic thought for the field of sport integrity, sport ethics and the social sport sciences. It presents several inviting conceptual frameworks to unveil the opportunities in applying psychoanalysis to sport. Psychoanalysis brings the uncomfortable truth that ‘reality’ is only accessible through the impasses of subjective imagination. Thanks to psychoanalysis, we have become aware that an undetermined part of human actions might originate from an unconscious part of the psyche. This unconscious is not reducible to (a physical part of) the brain but covers our whole being. As such, psychoanalytic thought represents a secret but no less influential discourse on the roots of modern sport, a discourse that focuses on the libidinous origins of sport. A challenging turn to make for the currently dominating field-of-knowledge about sport. This book aims to explore the potential of a psychoanalytic approach in improving sport integrity, by presenting a diverse conceptual framework. The aim is to open up to the opportunities a psychoanalytic analysis offers, without pretending to be exhaustive, as there are many different roots and schools in the field of psychoanalysis.

This book was originally published as a special issue of Sport, Ethics and Philosophy.

Sandra Meeuwsen founded ‘Erasmus Center for Sport Integrity & Transition’ (2022–2025) at Erasmus University Rotterdam, Netherlands. She obtained her Master’s degree in Philosophy in 1990. Since 1994, Sandra has been employed in sports policymaking, starting at NL Olympic Committee. In 2020, she doctorated at Philosophy and Moral Sciences at the Free University of Brussels, Belgium. Currently, Sandra Meeuwsen holds the position of Visiting Professor ‘Sport Ethics and Philosophy of Chinese Football’ at Tongji University, China.