The normative discourse of anti-doping policy

Abstract

Despite the progress made towards integrating global anti-doping efforts, the use of performance-enhancing substances in sport remains a legitimate, if misunderstood, concern. While public attitudes have become increasingly tolerant towards methods of performance enhancement in everyday matters, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and its related organizations continue to take a strong prohibitive stance against performance enhancement in sport. This study employs methods of critical discursive analysis in an investigation of the World Anti-Doping Code. While research in this area has become somewhat prolific, systematic analyses of this type are few. The text of the World Anti-Doping Code was analysed for the evidence of discursive themes, which were then combined and interpreted to produce more comprehensive discourses. The findings of this study suggest two major discourses to which the text in question contributes: a discourse of authority, and a normative discourse of sport. These discourses produce a system that makes it easier for WADA to maintain unquestioned authority and use this authority to constrain the conditions under which sport may exist.