Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / This thesis is about the sporting lives of people who work and/or live at the commercial grape and wine farms of the Western Cape. Collectively referred to as farm workers, they are identified by the Western Cape Provincial Government as a priority group in need of "development". Over the past 15 or so years, proclamations and practices of "sport for development and peace" (SDP) have emerged as globally recognised phenomena, where sport is promoted as a tool to achieve a broad range of "development" objectives, including the Millennium Development Goals. As a research topic, SDP scholars examine the practical and theoretical usefulness of sport as a tool for addressing a diverse set of social, health, political and economic issues through education, diplomacy, inclusion, and awareness programmes. Instead of attending to the questions of whether or how sport might serve "development" ends, this study offers a critical analysis of the nexus between sport and "development" (SDN) in the context of farm workers of the Western Cape. Informed by James Ferguson‘s analysis of "development" as an 'anti-politics machine' (1990), I adopt a deconstructionist approach that examines issues beyond the narrow confines of "development" problems and programmes. As he argues, "development" continues to serve as a-central organising concept‘ to discuss and assess desired change in social and economic realms, which is evident in the programmes of farm worker "development" and how these continue to retain a place in the policy and political discourses on agrarian transformation in post-apartheid South Africa. With an appreciation of the Western Cape‘s agrarian history and politics and how they shape present-day farm labour conditions, I have critically analysed the discourses and practices of farm worker "development" and SDP in the light of broader structural realities, everyday sporting lives and the "development" experiences of farm workers. The central organising question of this thesis is: how do "development" problems and the solutions sought for in SDP discourses and programmes correspond to the social, economic and political realities of their subjects? Drawing on my ethnographic fieldwork conducted at farmlands in and around Rawsonville, a small rural town, from April 2012 to May 2013, I illustrate different and seemingly disconnected frames and positions from which theories of SDP and farm workers‘ experiences of sport and "development" were observed. The analysis is organised around three contrasting frames of observation, namely: 1) historical and contemporary discourses and politics of farm worker "development" and SDP programmes and practices, 2) structural arrangements of competitive and physical infrastructure for official sport, and 3) everyday (official and unofficial) sporting practices and experiences of the rural working class people. With a particular attention to continuities and contradictions in historical and contemporary farm worker "development" discourses and selected SDP case studies, I demonstrate that while SDP agendas directed at farm workers may serve divergent and at times conflicting interests, farm workers' own agency, initiative and aspirations do not feature in SDP programmes and broader "development" discourses. The contrasts and counter-narratives presented in discussing these case studies and stories complicate and contest simplified notions commonly projected in global SDP discourses and locally specific "development" agendas. Beyond the confines of sporadic and temporary SDP projects, there was a vibrant and active world of formal and informal sport among the farm workers of Rawsonville. By focusing on the everyday sporting lives of athletes, coaches, managers, organisers and soccer clubs, I paint a picture that reveals the diversity and inconsistency of experiences and meanings of farm worker as an identity, a class position and an occupation. Interrogating how farm workers were embedded within the broader rural sport structures, I describe the complex set of factors that shaped their experiences of, access to, and participation in, sport. I argue that while sport was passionately pursued irrespective of direct or corollary "development" benefits, it was unofficial and under-the-radar sport networks and practices that served as vital spaces of autonomy, initiative and self-realization, even for those who may not otherwise have had such opportunities. And while the politically disengaged and enthusiastically embraced qualities of sport may continue to be among the reasons for its traction in "development" and peace agendas, these very same qualities allow sport to be usefully employed as an ethnographic method. Among the formative turns I took in conducting and presenting my research observations was to implicate myself and invite the reader into the confusing and complex process of learning and knowledge production. By way of conclusion, I argue for refocusing the gaze of research on studying sport as part of the broader scope of subaltern sociality.

In contrast with mainstream Canadian youth, First Nations youth experience many health disparities. Researchers recommended that interventions designed to promote First Nations youth development use a strengths-based lens that recognizes contextual challenges. Furthermore, leadership programming for First Nations youth has begun to show promising outcomes. The overall purpose of this research was to examine the Youth Leadership Program (YLP) program to gain an understanding of program implementation and perceived outcomes related to both individual and community development. Two studies were conducted to fulfil the research purpose. The first study applied a qualitative approach that examined contextual dynamics, implementation issues (Article 1) and perceived impacts (Article 2). Data were collected using semi-structured interviews and analyzed using thematic analysis. Overall, 12 program staff (5 females), one Elder (male) and 10 youth (8 females) participated in semi-structured interviews. In addition, 11 youth (7 females) participated in two focus groups. The data from the youth and staff were included in the first study. The focus group data was included in the second study. In Article 1, findings were categorized into strategies for success and challenges. The following six themes were identified within the strategies for success: (a) designing youth engagement strategies, (b) being creative and adaptable, (c) being a positive presence, (d) applying experiential learning techniques, (e) balancing the integration of culture with youth voice and (f) identifying partnerships and developing relationships with the community. The three themes relating to challenges were (a) community diversity, (b) social issues and (c) staff burn-out. In Article 2, data analysis resulted in three themes that describe the perceived program effects at the participant, staff and community levels. The three major themes include: a) progressive leadership development, b) enhanced relationships and c) increased community participation. Within the second study (Article 3), methods were based on youth participatory evaluation and Photovoice and the design included capacity building, stakeholder analysis, photo exploration and utilization-focused activities. Using a thematic analysis, five themes were identified: (a) fun and fulfilling to engage the children, (b) positive outcomes for youth leaders, (c) community impacts, (d) challenges and (e) opportunities for improvement. Findings for each study are discussed in relation to current theory and practice, and recommendations are provided for future research and programming. This research makes contributions to applied positive youth development programming, community-based research with First Nations youth, youth-led participatory research and developmental systems theory.

Magister Artium (Sport, Recreation and Exercise Science) - MA(SRES) / Football around the globe has been used as a vehicle for youth development initiatives. Youth development programmes foster social change in communities and provide an ideal development context that often results in active sport participation. In South Africa, there are a number of youth development programmes that not only use football, but also other sporting codes to implement and create sustainable youth development programmes. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore best practices in youth development programmes of selected football academies in the Western Cape

The sport for development and peace (SDP) sector has become a fast-evolving field which has received significant academic and public attention. Given the continued commitment to gender equality in the UN's Sustainable Development Goals, sport has been positioned as a vessel for women's empowerment, a term which continues to be the object of much academic debate and dispute. Drawing on feminist theories of development and empowerment, the purpose of this thesis is to explore (a) how young people engage in the development project and (b) to critically examine the potential of such programmes in advancing transformation in gender relations and in offering new opportunities for challenging gender stereotypes inside and outside of sport. This thesis draws upon eleven months of ethnographic research undertaken between 2017 and 2018 in two organizations in São Paulo, Brazil, which use sport-mainly football-to empower women and achieve broader societal objectives within low-income communities. I conducted participant observations and fifty semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders, managers, and educators as well as the participants of the projects and their parents. The findings of this research suggest that there is ambiguity regarding the role of sport-for-development (SFD) programmes in...

Background: Sport is often perceived as inherently positive for sustainable development. This widespread assumption is however found to be quite normative, and the standardization of its boundaries dangerously naive. The lack of contextual specificity across the dominant schools of thought calls for a more comprehensive analysis of what different activities entail in different contexts.  Purpose: This study examines the field of sport for development through a critical lens. Different initiatives using traditional mainstream sports and lifestyle sports, seeking an array of social development objectives, are structurally and systematically unpacked, hence uncovering the attributes that shape the achievements and challenges of the projects.  Methods: Through a qualitative approach, six organisations operating in varying scopes and environments were interviewed using a semi-structured approach.  Results: The investigation pinpoints the encompassing theme of sportification as a force of change influencing the internal and external dynamics of lifestyle sports as well as traditional mainstream sports, though to a lesser extent. Several important issues emerge from the investigation, such as how the notions of focus, networks and the fundamental benefits and challenges underlying each type of sport can materialize into concrete impacts on social development.  Conclusions: A fine balance of sportification is necessary in order to gain the leverage and capital required to access the opportunities presented by organized sport yet without excessively compromising the innate social qualities of the activity.

This dissertation focuses on the following questions: 1) What is the structure of the Korean sport for international development discourse? 2) How are the historical transformations of particular rules of formation manifested in the discourse of Korean sport for international development? 3) What knowledge, ideas, and strategies make up Korean sport for international development? And 4) what are the ways in which these components interact with the institutional aspirations of the Korean government, directed by the official development assistance goals, the foreign policy and diplomatic agenda, and domestic politics? To address these research questions, I focus my analysis on the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) and its 30 years of expertise in designing and implementing sport and physical activity–related programs and aid projects. For this research project, I collected eight different sets of KOICA documents published from 1991 to 2017 as primary sources and two different sets of supplementary documents including government policy documents and newspaper articles. By using Foucault’s archaeology and genealogy as methodological frameworks, the analysis highlights how KOICA sport has functioned for three decades as 1) an international development tool, 2) a diplomacy tool, and 3) a domestic policy tool of the Korean state. The conclusion focuses on 1) the relevance of findings to the larger context of SFD, sport diplomacy, and domestic policy and political literature; 2) additional cases demonstrating the ways other nations might employ sport for political purposes, in comparison with KOICA sport; 3) KOICA sport’s potential future as an alternative to Korean SFD and future direction of my research journey toward a big picture of East Asian SFD.

Magister Artium (Sport, Recreation and Exercise Science) - MA(SRES) / The world is home for 1.2 billion individuals aged between 10-19 years who have lived most of their lives under United Nations the Millennium Declaration, which has sought 2000 has sought a better world for all. In this context, parental involvement in sport for development can be looked at as a continuum ranging from not being involved at all, to over involved; from low to high, and from positive to negative. Positive parental involvement includes supporting a child through ways such as verbal encouragement, presence at a game and allowing a child to make his/her own mistakes. Negative behaviour involves directive behaviour and pressure to win and perform up to parent’s expectations.

Sport is increasingly being recognised for the contribution it can make to the Millennium Development Goals and, in particular, the response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic. This study is based on Zambia, a low-income country, heavily affected by the HIV/AIDS pandemic in sub-Saharan Africa. The study focuses on National Sports Associations (NSAs), which are quasi- autonomous organisations at meso level of policy analysis. Centring on three NSAs: Football Association of Zambia (FAZ), Zambia Basketball Association (ZBA) and Netball Association of Zambia (NAZ), this study critically analysed the organisational responses of each of the selected cases towards the HIV/AIDS multisectoral approach. The study adopted a case study approach which utilised semi-structured (face-to-face and telephone), interviews, focus group discussions and documentary analysis for data collection. Comparative analysis of all three cases revealed differences in how each case mainstreamed HIV/AIDS based on power, resources and forms of collaboration. Meso-level analysis was utilised to examine workplace HIV/AIDS policy formulation and implementation. In addition, meso-level analysis also helped reveal forms of health-related collaborations with both internal and external agencies. Macro-level theories of the state were useful in examining power relations between the Zambian state and civil society. The application of policy network theory, global health governance, multiple streams framework, and the top-down and bottom-up approaches to policy implementation proved useful in drawing attention to how each NSA case responded differently to the mainstreaming of HIV/AIDS. The political power of football as a national sport and the Association s access to foreign resources enabled FAZ to influence HIV/AIDS policy implementation and build of strong collaborative relationships with government than the ZBA and NAZ. The study concludes that lack of political steer from the top has re-introduced a new foreign top-down approach as those with resources from the Global North influenced policy formulation and implementation within all three cases. The conclusion also found useful the application of post-colonialism and development theories when examining international sport-for-development practices. This finding revealed the power imbalances between Global South practitioners and Global North funding partners.

The purpose of this study was to explore the connections between Sport for Development and Peace (SDP), service-learning, and community-university partnerships through the implementation of the Service-Learning: Sport and Community Development (SCD) class. It was my hope that this research would produce a usable model, a framework for other scholars and practitioners interested in developing community-university partnerships. I wanted this project to not only answer the “why” questions for SDP and service-learning, but also the “how” questions – specifically, how to create a reflexive and collaborative partnership that balances the needs of the community and university. I wanted to create something riveting and real, something inspiring and authentic, and something more inclusive than a first-person programmer or instructor account of the experience (Darnell, 2007; Eyler & Giles, 1999; Millington, 2010; Stoecker & Tryon, 2009). Much like the goals of the class, this research was designed to stimulate and encourage others to move toward a more critical and engaged community agenda. To do that, I needed to create a research text that readers could “keep in their minds and feel in their bodies the complexities of concrete moments of lived experience” (Ellis, 2004, p. 30). For that reason, I chose narrative inquiry (Clandinin & Connelly, 2000) as the primary method of representation, coupled with performance narratives (Denzin, 2003) and poetics (Glesne, 2006; Ely, 2007). Based on the data collected from 49 qualitative interviews, 500 pages worth of reflective journals, and 200 pages of electronically recorded field notes, I created a visual community-university partnership model that illustrates the connections between SDP and service-learning as implemented in the SCD class. In addition to the visual model, I constructed narratives to detail the progression of the SCD experience over time, beginning with the common language of sport and ending in complete investment and reciprocity. As a result of this research, it has become clear that if implemented with intentionality, careful consideration, community collaboration, and reflexivity, that sport-based service-learning initiatives can enhance student learning, improve community welfare, and strengthen ties between the community and the university.

The extractives industry (mining, oil, and gas) engages in corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities to reinforce its organizational legitimacy and enhance its public image. One such approach to CSR that is popular in the industry is through funding sport initiatives aimed at Indigenous peoples (often termed Sport for Development; SFD). On the surface, such funding may seem commendable and innocuous; however, questions have been raised about the ways in which such funding may obfuscate the harmful impacts that the extractives industry has had and continues to have on Indigenous peoples and their traditional territories. Through the adoption of a postcolonial theoretical perspective and in conjunction with netnographic methods and discourse analysis, this project involved a consideration of how extractives companies portray their funding of sport programs in Indigenous communities on social media. Given the research focus on Indigenous communities in the countries known as Canada and Australia, between country differences were also examined. Three discourses related to the extractives industry’s funding of SFD in Indigenous communities in Canada and Australia were developed. These discourses included the following: 1) Extractives companies are proud “partners” of Indigenous communities; 2) Extractives companies are committed to helping Indigenous communities in Canada and Australia; and 3) Canadian extractives companies are future focused and past-blind, while Australian extractives companies are advocates for reconciliation. Overall, extractives companies in Canada and Australia were found to use social media to portray themselves as responsible and committed partners of Indigenous communities, while obscuring the ongoing histories of colonialism through discourses of empowerment and development through sport. Suggestions are made regarding ongoing interrogation of the ways in which the extractives industry perpetuates colonialism.