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Fairness, technology and the ethics of Paralympic sport classification

Michael McNamee Orcid Logo, Richard Parnell, Yves Vanlandewijck

European Journal of Sport Science, Volume: 21, Issue: 11, Pages: 1 - 9

Swansea University Author: Michael McNamee Orcid Logo

Abstract

Fairness in sport is a widely shared meritocratic norm. Its application is usually restricted to equality of opportunity to compete for victory. Paralympic sports lay down a further challenge in that equality of opportunity must be shaped by considerations of fairness, evidenced by the development o...

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Published in: European Journal of Sport Science
ISSN: 1746-1391 1536-7290
Published: Informa UK Limited 2021
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa57910
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first_indexed 2021-09-16T09:54:38Z
last_indexed 2021-12-02T04:15:16Z
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spelling 2021-12-01T13:19:23.9741266 v2 57910 2021-09-16 Fairness, technology and the ethics of Paralympic sport classification 85b0b1623e55d977378622a6aab7ee6e 0000-0002-5857-909X Michael McNamee Michael McNamee true false 2021-09-16 STSC Fairness in sport is a widely shared meritocratic norm. Its application is usually restricted to equality of opportunity to compete for victory. Paralympic sports lay down a further challenge in that equality of opportunity must be shaped by considerations of fairness, evidenced by the development of discrete competition categories to construct fair and meaningful contests. In this article, we extend these philosophical ideas to consider how Fair Equality of Opportunity might operate in the context of Paralympic sports classification. We articulate three conceptions of fairness relevant to these sports: (i) background fairness; (ii) procedural fairness; and (iii) stakes fairness. We critically review the International Paralympic Committee’s Policy on Sport Equipment in relation to the first two conceptions and argue that greater clarification, theorization and rule modification is required if physical prowess, as opposed to equipment technology, is to be assured as the dominant determinant of Paralympic athletic success. Journal Article European Journal of Sport Science 21 11 1 9 Informa UK Limited 1746-1391 1536-7290 Ethics; disability sport; competition; philosophy 13 9 2021 2021-09-13 10.1080/17461391.2021.1961022 COLLEGE NANME Sport and Exercise Sciences COLLEGE CODE STSC Swansea University 2021-12-01T13:19:23.9741266 2021-09-16T10:52:27.0560052 Faculty of Science and Engineering School of Aerospace, Civil, Electrical, General and Mechanical Engineering - Sport and Exercise Sciences Michael McNamee 0000-0002-5857-909X 1 Richard Parnell 2 Yves Vanlandewijck 3 57910__20866__40e9d3545bec4f50a8b19ba3afceb9d5.pdf 57910.pdf 2021-09-16T10:55:29.6678011 Output 254649 application/pdf Accepted Manuscript true 2022-09-13T00:00:00.0000000 Released under the terms of CC BY-NC-ND license true eng https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/
title Fairness, technology and the ethics of Paralympic sport classification
spellingShingle Fairness, technology and the ethics of Paralympic sport classification
Michael McNamee
title_short Fairness, technology and the ethics of Paralympic sport classification
title_full Fairness, technology and the ethics of Paralympic sport classification
title_fullStr Fairness, technology and the ethics of Paralympic sport classification
title_full_unstemmed Fairness, technology and the ethics of Paralympic sport classification
title_sort Fairness, technology and the ethics of Paralympic sport classification
author_id_str_mv 85b0b1623e55d977378622a6aab7ee6e
author_id_fullname_str_mv 85b0b1623e55d977378622a6aab7ee6e_***_Michael McNamee
author Michael McNamee
author2 Michael McNamee
Richard Parnell
Yves Vanlandewijck
format Journal article
container_title European Journal of Sport Science
container_volume 21
container_issue 11
container_start_page 1
publishDate 2021
institution Swansea University
issn 1746-1391
1536-7290
doi_str_mv 10.1080/17461391.2021.1961022
publisher Informa UK Limited
college_str Faculty of Science and Engineering
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hierarchy_top_id facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
department_str School of Aerospace, Civil, Electrical, General and Mechanical Engineering - Sport and Exercise Sciences{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Science and Engineering{{{_:::_}}}School of Aerospace, Civil, Electrical, General and Mechanical Engineering - Sport and Exercise Sciences
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description Fairness in sport is a widely shared meritocratic norm. Its application is usually restricted to equality of opportunity to compete for victory. Paralympic sports lay down a further challenge in that equality of opportunity must be shaped by considerations of fairness, evidenced by the development of discrete competition categories to construct fair and meaningful contests. In this article, we extend these philosophical ideas to consider how Fair Equality of Opportunity might operate in the context of Paralympic sports classification. We articulate three conceptions of fairness relevant to these sports: (i) background fairness; (ii) procedural fairness; and (iii) stakes fairness. We critically review the International Paralympic Committee’s Policy on Sport Equipment in relation to the first two conceptions and argue that greater clarification, theorization and rule modification is required if physical prowess, as opposed to equipment technology, is to be assured as the dominant determinant of Paralympic athletic success.
published_date 2021-09-13T04:14:00Z
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score 11.013148