Sport-for-development: going beyond the boundary?

Abstract

Recent policy statements by the United Nations relating to sport-for-development have gone beyond simple sports participation to emphasize the supposed importance of sport as an element of civil society. Reflecting changes in the wider aid paradigm, emphasis has been placed on sport's potential contribution to social cohesion and the development of social capital. However, such statements are vague and lack theoretical and policy coherence. This article reviews theories of social capital and, via a case study of the Mathare Youth Sport Association, explores the extent to which certain elements of sport-for-development organizations can contribute to certain types of social capital (bonding, bridging and linking). It also examines the extent to which various types of social capital can contribute to aspects of development and at the same time illustrates the potential limitations of overly romanticized, communitarian views based on limited and untheorized notions of bonding capital.