Caution! Achievement subjects at work: a Hanian analysis of policy enactment in Gaelic games

Responding to calls for the closer examination of the relational, emotional, and performative dimensions of policy enactment in sport, this paper explores the experiences of County Games Development Managers within the Gaelic Athletic Association. Drawing on in-depth interviews with eight participants and Han’s critique of neoliberal subjectivity as a heuristic framework, we reveal how managers’ internalised drive to deliver policy objectives fostered deep cognitive and emotional entanglement with their work. This pressure generated a persistent sense of needing to “be on” in navigating the everyday demands and dilemmas of policy enactment. Our analysis shows how such conditions produced heightened fatigue and disrupted personal and family lives, illustrating the personal costs of their professional roles. Overall, the paper offers a novel perspective on the temporal, relational, and emotional demands of policy enactment, emphasising how neoliberal ideals of self-governance and moral obligation to perform shape the lived realities of policy actors.