Competitive sports, disability, and problems of justice in sports

A "level playing field" is a stock metaphor for equality. Despite its status as a near-cliché, however, the metaphor has been given limited theoretical attention. Deliberately tilting the field so that one set of contestants must consistently run uphill while their opponents get a downhill ride is perhaps a clear violation of the metaphor. But what of a bumpy field, where luck frequently plays a role in how the ball bounces, to play on another metaphor? Such a field is not "level" in the most obvious sense, but it may afford all contestants an equal chance, unless the bumps are concentrated on one side of the field and the contestants do not switch sides in an appropriately balanced way. But note this last qualification: If the bumps are concentrated around one goal, and it is an advantage to be attacking that goal at the end of the game, the field may not be level at all. And what of a field that is designed to fit some characteristics of players better than other characteristics? For example, a basketball court with baskets at different heights would play quite differently from a court where all baskets are 12 feet high. A soccer pitch with smaller goals would perhaps reward goalies with different physical endowments than the goal as it is presently shaped. These questions about the relationship between players and playing fields reach to the heart of how we understand sports, disability, and equality itself. These issues are the subject of this special section.