Sport and power: hard power, soft power and smart power

Brannagan, Paul Michael ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4003-8420, Giulianotti, Richard and Grix, Jonathan ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7315-1641 (2025) Sport and power: hard power, soft power and smart power. Leisure Studies. pp. 1-15. ISSN 0261-4367

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Abstract

This paper makes an original and significant contribution to knowledge by rethinking the role of power in sport and leisure studies. Notably, the paper provides much needed theoretical clarity on the concept of ‘smart power’, and in doing so, then advances the first smart power analysis of sport and leisure. Furthermore, the paper implements a systematic framework for analysing power in sport and leisure, one that locates how hard, soft and smart power, respectively, emerge across five crucial dimensions. By doing so, the paper provides a portable and comprehensive analytical framework for scholars to apply in their future analyses of the power relations inherent within sport and leisure studies.