Sharing gifts: The modus narrandi of athletes’ and former athletes’ interests in supporting sport for development and peace programmes in Brazil

Abstract

This article analyses the relationship between athletes and former athletes, as well as initiatives related to Sport for Development and Peace programs. To do so, an approach to the referred field is initially presented, along with some peculiarities of the sector in Brazil. The research question guiding this study is: Why and how do athletes and former athletes invest time, material and symbolic resources in sports social projects? The methodology employed in this research was qualitative, utilising semi-structured interviews and focus groups with athletes and former athletes involved in Sport for Development and Peace initiatives in Brazil. Reflexive Thematic Analysis was used to interpret and analyse data. Our thematic map, generated from analysis work, is composed of two themes: (1) the Unquestionable Belief: Why to get involved, why sport, and the narrative of social value and (2) the Practice-Discourse Gap: How the belief translates into action and the deepening of the narrative. The research results show that there is an almost insurmountable block in the narratives when one seeks to learn anything beyond the social value of sport. This study proposes the concept of modus narrandi as a core category to explain this block, arguing that field agents deploy this narrative resource to justify their involvement while simultaneously masking or avoiding the discussion of economic, career and methodological interests.