Mainstreaming Sport into International Development Studies

In the introduction to their 2009 anthology Sport and International Development, editors Roger Levermore and Aaron Beacom argued that the emerging connection and interrelations between sport and international development could be understood, at least in part, as the mobilising of sport in response to the failings of traditional development orthodoxy. Whereas theories and practices of development had proved largely unsuccessful, both materially and discursively, in producing significant changes for the benefit of the world’s poorest and most marginalised, sport and physical activity, they argued, was now being conceptualised and utilised as an opportunity to approach the challenges and practices of development differently. In particular, Levermore and Beacom suggested that the increased attention paid by development stakeholders to issues of culture, and the amplified interest in international development within civil society and by transnational corporations, had paved the way for a more organised and institutionalised relationship between sport, sport organisations, sport-focused NGOs and the broader development community. The institutionalisation of these connections between sport and international development, as well as related issues of peace building and conflict resolution, is now commonly referred to as ‘Sport for Development and Peace’ (SDP), a title recognised in a variety of cultural and political spheres and inclusive of the multiplicity of organisations and programmes that now employ sport to meet development goals. Notably sport now enjoys official recognition and growing emphasis within the United Nations system. The