Development, Gender and Sport: Theorizing a Feminist Practice of the Capabilities Approach in Sport for Development

Abstract

Sport for development (SFD) research and practice has become more critically examined recently, with many scholars calling for better understanding of how and why sport might contribute to the global development movement. Developing and refining theoretical approaches is key to unpacking the complexities of SFD. Yet, theory development in SFD is still relatively young and often relies on oversimplified theory of change models. In this article, the authors propose a new theoretical approach, drawing upon the capabilities approach and critical feminist perspectives. The authors contend that the capabilities approach is effective in challenging neoliberal ideologies and examining a range of factors that influence people’s lived experiences. They have woven a “gender lens” across the capabilities approach framework, as feminist perspectives are often overlooked, subjugated, or misunderstood. The authors also provide an adaptable diagrammatic model to support researchers and practitioners in applying this framework in the SFD context.

Sport for Social Change: Bridging the Theory–Practice Divide

“…Finally, this special issue does not feature any articles that can clearly be classified as taking a combined lens. Although a number of contributions infuse SFD research and programs with literature and theories from outside the SFD domain (e.g., Zipp et al, 2019 andHapeta et al, 2019), systematic dual engagement of SFD and social change is yet to occur. We propose that the interrelation of these two areas-either around specific projects or in the context of wider policymaking-deserves to be studied in more detail.…”

Critical Social Science in Sport Management Research: A Scoping Review

“…When considering the top three sport management journals specifically, there were 134 articles published in total in 2019 (JSM = 47, ESMQ = 33, SMR = 54). Of those 134 articles, only 4 (<1%; i.e., Chen and Mason, 2019;Shaw, 2019;Warner, 2019;Zipp et al, 2019) took a critical approach as per our inclusion requirements for this study.…”

Marchando desde una comunidad en Bogotá hasta los Juegos Olímpicos:

“…Sin embargo, siguen existiendo barreras físicas y psicosociales que impiden la participación de las mujeres y que deben ser investigadas. Sobre el mismo tema de género, Zipp, entre otros autores (Zipp, 2017;Zipp y Nauright, 2018;Zipp et al, 2019) exploraron las experiencias de niños y niñas en el programa Levelling the playing field en el Caribe Oriental, para comprender mejor las actitudes relacionadas con el papel del género en el DDP (capacidades humanas y realidades vividas de género en el deporte del Caribe). Los autores documentaron cómo las niñas y las mujeres acceden al deporte y lo viven.…”