The power to shape policy: charting sport for development and peace policy discourses

Abstract

This paper discusses findings from a development policy discourse analysis that was conducted using six key sport for development and peace (SDP) policy documents. The research was guided by a theoretical framework combining postcolonial theory and actor-oriented sociology in order to critically analyse SDP policies. Based on this analysis, three theses are proposed: (1) SDP policies are unclear, circuitous and are underpinned by political rationalities; (2) coordinated and coherent SDP policy approaches between the One-Third World and Two-Thirds World suggest that 'partnership' is possibly akin to 'developmental assimilation'; and (3) SDP policy models are wedded to the increasingly neoliberal character of international development interventions. Proposals for future research on SDP include an increase in the use of:(1) anthropological perspectives to uncover how those on the 'receiving end' of SDP policies are influenced and challenged by taking up the solutions and techniques prescribed for them; and (2) postcolonial perspectives that re-orient questions and concerns towards the Eurocentric standpoints couched in development policies, and asks scholars to uncover how power relations, authority and influence are embedded in the social processes of policy-making. The article concludes by arguing that SDP policies are messy, unpredictable, ambiguous and, at times, contradictory.Este artículo discute resultados obtenidos a partir del análisis del discurso de política de desarrollo de seis documentos clave de política de deporte para el desarrollo y la paz (DDP). El enfoque teórico utilizado en esta investigación para analizar de forma crítica las políticas DDP combinó la teoría postcolonial y la sociológica actor-orientada. Basado en este análisis, se propone lo siguiente: (1) las políticas DDP no son claras, son indirectas y están reforzadas por racionalidades políticas; (2) enfoques de políticas DDP coordinadas y coherentes entre el Primer Mundo y el Segundo y Tercer Mundos sugieren que 'colaboración' es tan posible como 'asimilación de desarrollo'; y (3) los modelos de política DDP están ligados al creciente carácter neoliberal de intervenciones de desarrollo internacional. Propuestas para investigación futura en DDP incluye un incremento en el uso de: (1) perspectivas antropológicas para descubrir cómo aquellos en el 'final de la cola' de las políticas DDP son influenciadas y retadas adoptando las soluciones y técnicas prescritas para ellos; y (2) perspectivas postcoloniales que reorienten cuestiones y preocupaciones hacia los puntos de vista Eurocéntricos, contenidos en políticas de desarrollo, y pedir a académicos de descubrir cómo las relaciones de poder, autoridad e influencia están implantados en los procesos sociales de hacer política. El artículo concluye argumentado que las políticas de DDP son confusas, impredecibles, ambiguas y, a veces, contradictorias. *

Sport-for-Development in the South Pacific Region: Macro-, Meso-, and Micro-Perspectives

“…Moreover, critics have suggested that as a consequence of external pressures on SFD programs to "perform," there is a tendency to overstate positive program outcomes and associated impacts (Coalter, 2015). Additionally, in the absence of a critical SPORT-FOR-DEVELOPMENT IN THE SOUTH PACIFIC 5 foundation, Darnell (2012) argued that the increasing focus on monitoring and evaluation risks SFD becoming nothing more than a management function, and questions remain about programs' ability to address larger societal constraints and achieve meaningful structural change (see also Coalter, 2010;Darnell, 2010;Hayhurst, 2009).…”

Education, pedagogy and sport for development: addressing seldom asked questions

“…Canada, the UK, the USA and several Scandinavian countries have all been major players in funding for SfD. Even when projects are managed and delivered by local stakeholders and staff, there remains a noticeable imprint of Global North priorities and practices (Hayhurst, 2009). For example, Forde argues that 'SDP initiatives tend to align with discourses that emphasise individual responsibility and entrepreneurialism, and often promote universal and simplistic solutions to social problems at the expense of addressing broader structural factors ' (2013, p. 3).…”

‘Mzungu!’: implications of identity, role formation and programme delivery in the sport for development movement

“…Embedded within a neoliberal discourse, SDP is said to replicate and perpetuate power relations that legitimise inequality and social hierarchy, justifying the contemporary status quo as it provides a remedy for social ills based upon an economic logic that promotes socio-political regulation at the expense of liberation (Darnell 2012;Hayhurst 2009;Li 2007). Furthermore, SDP programmes have been harnessed by nation states to reduce internal government spending on social care and health programmes, an approach to policy that reduces government responsibility for citizens in disadvantaged communities and is thus said to ignore the 'root causes' of poverty (Wilson and Hayhurst 2009).…”

“…Recent work examining SDP has deployed frameworks that pursue Foucauldian notions of bio-power, Gramscian theories of hegemony and postcolonial theory to delineate a clearer appreciation of the structural negotiations that exist between sport, politics and culture, identifying the impact that such relations impose upon the articulation and delivery of policy processes located within the field of SDP (Black 2010;Darnell 2010Darnell , 2011Darnell , 2012Hartmannn and Kwauk 2011;Levermore and Beacom 2012;Hayhurst 2009;Tiessen 2011). Whilst such work provides invaluable critique for exposing the dominant power relations and structural imperatives that guide practices within SPD programmes, few studies pursue a line of examination that expose the beliefs, values and meanings through which practitioners make sense of their experiences.…”