Violent Impacts: How Power and Inequality Shape the Concussion Crisis

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Concerns regarding brain injury in sport have escalated into what is often termed a ＂concussion crisis,＂ fueled by high-profile lawsuits and deaths. Although athletes are central figures in this narrative, they comprise only a small proportion of the people who experience brain injuries, while other high-risk groups--including victims of domestic violence and police brutality--are all too often left out of the story. In Violent Impacts, Kathryn Henne and Matt Ventresca examine what is and what isn’t captured in popular discourse, scrutinizing how law, science, and social inequalities shape depictions and understandings of brain injury. Drawing on research carried out in Australia, Canada, and the United States, they illustrate how structural violence centers certain bodies as part of the concussion crisis while pushing others to the margins.

Kathryn Henne is a professor in the School of Regulation and Global Governance at The Australian National University, where she directs the Justice and Technoscience Lab, and an adjunct professor in the College of Health Solutions at Arizona State University.

Matt Ventresca is a researcher in the School of History and Sociology at Georgia Institute of Technology and a visiting fellow in the School of Regulation and Global Governance at The Australian National University.