Sport, Soft Power and Cultural Relations

Abstract

The contribution of soft power and sports to foreign policy has been an expanding area of research and yet a relative silence exists on the making of effective cultural relations through sport. Revisionist accounts of sport, soft power and diplomacy have provided a refreshing impetus that has enabled sport to have a 21st century voice in national conversations around foreign policy and international relations. An opportunity exists to make the case that sport is part of the essential toolbox for anyone involved in contemporary cultural relations. That sport can contribute to the common good. The purpose of this article is to make such a case. What is cultural relations and why is it needed now as a soft critique of soft power and diplomacy and the role of sport in making the art of the possible, possible?URL: https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/rgsm

Social Justice Through Sport and Exercise Studies: A Manifesto

“…Sport does not fuse together disparate values and beliefs, and it will not serve to eventually proceed along a continuum to make social justice. If scholars hold that sport uniquely has the capacity to forge peace and aid development (e.g., Collison et al, 2016;Jarvie & Houston 2016;Welty-Peachey et al, 2018;Collison et al, 2019;Giulianotti et al, 2019;Collison et al, 2020;Svensson, Andersson et al, 2020;Welty-Peachey et al, 2020;Jarvie, 2021) then wideranging research to understand this specific function is necessary.…”

“…Sport does not fuse together disparate values and beliefs, and it will not serve to eventually proceed along a continuum to make social justice. If scholars hold that sport uniquely has the capacity to forge peace and aid development (e.g., Collison et al, 2016; Collison et al, 2019; Collison et al, 2020; Giulianotti et al, 2019; Jarvie, 2021; Jarvie & Houston 2016; Svensson et al, 2020; Welty-Peachey et al, 2018; Welty-Peachey et al, 2020) then wide-ranging research to understand this specific function is necessary. Accept that ritual, symbol, and repetition are good enough; that sincerity and authenticity as cultural constructions are not humanity's aim (e.g., Martin, 2007; Seligman et al, 2008). Consider that sport has an agonistic/competitive nature in modernity only because humans invented it to take such contest form.…”

A figurational approach to soft power and sport events. The case of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™

“…The need for conceptual refinement has grown due to the large number of studies of the way in which sport events are used to symbolize the attractive values and imagery of a host nation, in both emerging and developed states, for internal and external soft power purposes. Sport events have become media-driven, commercial and strategic mechanisms through which states may channel "brand-building" exercises domestically and/or in the geopolitical arena (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9).…”

The effective application of international human rights law standards to the sporting domain: Should UN monitoring bodies take central stage?

“…5 Sport has also been expressly considered in the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. 6 Finally, the idea of sport being a useful vehicle for the advancement of human rights has been developed in connection with the notion of sports diplomacy (Jarvei 2021, Murray 2013).…”