Sport and feminism in China: On the possibilities of conceiving roller derby as a feminist intervention

Abstract

The spread of contemporary roller derby presents an opportunity to examine the ways sport can act as a form of feminist intervention. This article draws on a qualitative case study of a roller derby league in China, made up predominantly of expatriate workers, to explore some of the possibilities roller derby presents in activating glocal forms of feminist participatory action. The globalization of sport has often been associated with colonialism and the loss of local physical cultures, together with commercialization. Roller derby provides a very different case, where, together with the spread of the game, comes a focus on gender diversity, female strength and a particular derby style of DIY (do-it-yourself) governance that may support forms of participatory action. As an exploratory study, this article points towards the potential of roller derby, and possibly other sport cultures, to support human rights activism in the Asia Pacific.