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. *

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Over 400 sport for development non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have formed in recent years, operating projects in more than 125 countries globally. These NGOs typically focus on sport participation in countries in the Two-Thirds World, and usually have partnerships with their more established national sports organizations in their home country. Drawing on partnership theory, the purpose of this study was to analyse tensions underpinning partnerships with high performance sport from the perspectives of staff in Swiss and Canadian sport for development NGOs. Qualitative research methods were used, including a content analysis of the two NGO websites along with various organizational documents. Key staff from each NGO were also interviewed. The findings reveal three major tensions that both NGOs encounter. The first is competing values and this was tied to different approaches to sport programme delivery and concerns that NGO programmes are seen as a feeder system for their high performance sport partners. The second tension related to gaining legitimacy. While there were benefits in being associated with the established histories of high performance sport partners, the NGOs wanted to move the sport for development agenda forward independently but found it difficult to do so. Resource dependency was a third tension identified by both NGOs that shaped and were shaped by power imbalances between sport partners. The implications of the findings for sport for development NGOs and ideas for future research are discussed.

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The purpose of this study was to explore how girls in Eastern Uganda experienced a corporate-funded sport, gender and development (SGD) martial arts program. This study used 19 semi-structured in-depth interviews, participant observation and document analysis. Results revealed that while the martial arts program increased the young women's confidence, challenged gender norms, augmented their social networks, improved their physical fitness and was useful for providing them with employment opportunities, the program also attempted to ‘govern’ their sexuality and sexual relations with boys and men by promoting individual avoidance and encouraging the use of self-defense strategies against potential abusers. To conclude, I argue that girl-focused SGD programs such as the one studied here impel young women to be the agents of social change and to cope with the potential resistance (e.g., from some of their family and community members) to their participation in SGD programs by building their self-esteem, confidence and self-responsibility. Despite this – and as the ‘new agents of social change’ – these young women still must navigate the structural inequalities that tend to marginalize their lives in the first place.