Sport for Development and Peace: A Critical Sociology

(Paperback)

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This book is available as open access through the Bloomsbury Open Access programme and is available on www.bloomsburycollections.com. The role of sport in development initiatives has grown dramatically over the last five years, now finding a place in the UN's millennium development goals. In Sport and Development for Peace, Simon Darnell outlines the most recent sociological research on the role of sport in development initiatives. The book analyses the relationship between sport and international development and looks at what this reveals about socio-political economy. It addresses a gap in the literature by focusing on issues of politics, power and culture, particularly looking at volunteer experience, mega-sporting events and sporting celebrity in the context of development. Darnell questions the belief that sport can offer a 'solution' to enduring development issues. Drawing on the latest empirical research, the book is a thorough and timely analysis of the social and political implications of tying sport to development.

Reviews

Darnell delivers a deep and varied analysis of the ways in which contemporary sport meshes with principles of sociology and international development. The book provides a theoretically and empirically rich account of SFD [sport-for-development] critique, yet at the same time it is an endorsement of SFD significanceSport for Development and Peace: A Critical Sociology is a powerful addition to the growing literature on SFD, particularly as to date there has been very little critical sociological exploration by academia. Due to its depth and academic rigour, the book is undoubtedly useful across a variety of disciplines, including sports studies, management, cultural studies, sociology, international relations and development studies. The author should be congratulated for the depth of information provided and the boldness to present readers with critical insights into a burgeoning area in which established beliefs, assumptions and assessments often remain superficial and/or imbalanced. -- Nico Schulenkorfa, Sport Management Business School, University of Technology, Sydney * International Journal of Sport Policy and Politics *
[Darnell's] text effectively manages to do crucial groundwork and also present an inspired, forward-thinking research agenda. This difficult task is skilfully managed in this book...By stepping outside the traditional foci of SDP research he inspires others to explore new questions and bring new perspectives to a body of research that largely focuses on questions of monitoring and evaluation and single-issue agendas. -- Sarah Palmer-Felgate and Megan Chawansky * International Review for the Sociology of Sport *

Author Bio

Simon Darnell is with the Department of International Development Studies, Dalhousie University.