Joshua Stride
Research title: The performance of race and protest in the NFL and EPL.
Research Summary
My thesis explores how race and protest are performed in the NFL and EPL by investigating various instances of protest on the stages of these sports-theatres. Working outwards from Colin Kaepernick kneeling in protest of blue-on-Black violence I will delineate how these moments: operate as performance; resist against uneven power dynamics; are received, distorted, and reproduced in the media; and connect with historical examples of protest in sports. I will also critically assess how the NFL and EPL function as theatrical institutions and how they are positioned within their socio-political contexts.
