Decolonizing the Sneaker: Sneaker Customization and the Racial Politics of Expressive Popular Culture

Abstract

Epitomized by the athletic sneaker industry's lucrative mining of Black bodies and Black culture, the colonization of the racial “Other” by the forces of Western consumer culture has become a defining feature of late capitalism. However, we propose that contemporary consumer culture also offers possibilities for everyday decolonizing practices, specifically those associated with sneaker customization. Drawing on 15 interviews with racially-marginalized sneaker customizers, we explored how individuals used sneaker customization to initiate critical and creative dialogues with the sneaker industry and other late colonizing forces. We found that participants used sneaker customization to assert their humanity through: signaling their personal/group identity; articulating political subversions and solidarities; and seeking to uplift disadvantaged communities. We conclude by encouraging sport scholars to critically engage the possibilities for decolonizing politics as infused within everyday popular cultural practices.