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.
Almeida BS, Graeff B and Trindade NV (2021) Sport and development in Brazil: Lessons from multiple sport mega-event hosting and sporting programmes in disadvantaged communities. In: Tinaz C and Knott B (eds) Sport and Development in Emerging Nations. Routledge, 13–28.
2.
AlfermannDStambulovaN (2007) Career transitions and career termination. In: TenenbaumGEklundRC (eds) Handbook of Sport Psychology. Hoboken, New Jersey, USA: John Wiley & Sons, 712–733.
3.
BlackDR (2017) The challenges of articulating ‘top down’ and ‘bottom up’ development through sport. Third World Thematics: A TWQ Journal2(1): 7–22.
4.
BogdanRCBiklenE (1994) Investigação cualitativa em educação: uma introdução à teoria e aos métodos. Porto, Portugal: Porto Editora, LDA.
5.
BourdieuP (1996) Razões práticas: sobre a teoria da ação. Tradução: Mariza Corrêa – Campinas, São Paulo, Papirus.
BraunVClarkeV (2019) Reflecting on reflexive thematic analysis. Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health11(4): 589–597.
9.
BurnettC (2017) The Olympic movement as stakeholder in the UN-IOC partnership: Configurations in Southern Africa. Diagoras: International Academic Journal on Olympic Studies1: 35–54.
10.
CaronAEMarchi JuniorWMoraes e SilvaM (2018) O mapeamento da produção científica sobre projetos esportivos no Brasil. Licere21(2). doi:10.35699/1981-3171.2018.1809
11.
ChungH (2003) Sport star vs rock star in globalizing popular culture: Similarities, difference and paradox in discussion of celebrities. International Review for the Sociology of Sport38(1): 99–108.
12.
CoalterF (2015) Sport-for-change: Some thoughts from a sceptic. Social Inclusion3(3): 19–15.
13.
DarnellSC (2010) Power, politics and “sport for development and peace”: Investigating the utility of sport for international development. Sociology of Sport Journal27(1): 54–75.
14.
DeboisNLedonAWyllemanP (2015) A lifespan perspective on the dual career of elite male athletes. Psychology of Sport and Exercise21: 15–26.
15.
De Vasconcelos RibeiroCH (2005) Projetos sociais de ex-jogadores de futebol famosos: Quando o sucesso se transforma em bem coletivo. Corpus et Scientia1(2).
FinlayL (2002) Negotiating the swamp: The opportunity and challenge of reflexivity in research practice. Qualitative Research2(2): 209–230.
18.
FreitasGDSDiasTMMiguelIGS, et al. (2023) Projetos sociais esportivos. Cadernos de Educação67.
19.
FreitasGDSMiguelIGSFernandesDV, et al. (2022) O esporte para o desenvolvimento e a paz nas revistas acadêmicas brasileiras: uma revisão de literatura integrativa. Movimento28.
GiulianottiR (2011) The sport, development and peace sector: A model of four social policy domains. Journal of Social Policy40(4): 757–776.
22.
GiulianottiR (2012) The sport for development and peace sector: An analysis of its emergence, key institutions, and social possibilities. The Brown Journal of World Affairs18(2): 279–293.
23.
GiulianottiR (2018) The SDP sector. In: Giulianotti R (ed.) Routledge Handbook of Sport for Development and Peace. Routledge, 24–34.
24.
GiulianottiRCoalterFCollisonH, et al. (2019) Rethinking sportland: A new research agenda for the sport for development and peace sector. Journal of Sport and Social Issues43(6): 411–437.
25.
GonzálezVG (2021) Sport and development in Mexico: NGOs and community-based organisations underpinned by neo-liberal logics using sport as educational tools. In: Tinaz C and Knott B (eds) Sport and Development in Emerging Nations. London, UK: Routledge, 108–124.
26.
Graeff B, Gutierrez DM, Sarda T, et al. (2019) Capable, splendorous and unequal: International media portrayals of Brazil during the 2014 World Cup. Third World Quarterly 40(4): 796–814.
27.
GraeffBŠafaříkováSSambili-GichehaLC(Eds) (2024). Routledge Handbook of the Global South in Sport for Development and Peace. London, UK: Routledge.
GuedesSLNovaesJDDBrandãoR (2006) Projetos Sociais Esportivos e as Novas Trajetórias Dos Atletas Profissionais. ANPOCS-Associação Nacional de Pós-Graduação e Pesquisa em Ciências Sociais30.
31.
GuetteMCruzNBHernandez-PeñaYK (2019) El deporte como intervención del tejido social para la paz: Estado del arte. Archivos Venezolanos de Farmacología y Terapéutica38(5): 674–681.
32.
GysenJBruyninckxHBachusK (2006) The modus narrandi: A methodology for evaluating effects of environmental policy. Evaluation12(1): 95–118.
33.
HafenN (2023) A walk down the path of benevolence: Sport and international development from a Scandinavian horizon. Soccer & Society24(3): 425–437.
34.
HowePD (2018) SDP and disability. In: Collison H, Darnell SC, Giulianotti R, et al. (eds) Routledge Handbook of Sport for Development and Peace. London, UK: Routledge, 275–284.
LindseyIWiltshireG (2021) Sport for development and transformative social change: The potential of Margaret Archer’s morphogenetic approach to reconceptualize a long-standing problem. Sociology of Sport Journal1(aop): 1–10.
41.
LobeBMorganDHoffmanKA (2020) Qualitative data collection in an era of social distancing. International Journal of Qualitative Methods19: 1609406920937875.
42.
LondoñoMH (2016) Estado del arte en Colombia de los programas donde se ha utilizado el deporte para el desarrollo y la construcción de la paz. Ciencia, tecnología e innovación en salud1: 49–54.
43.
MarquesRGraeffB (2022) Análise Temática Reflexiva: Interpretações e experiências em educação, sociologia, educação física e esporte. MOTRICIDADES: Revista da Sociedade de Pesquisa Qualitativa em Motricidade Humana6(2): 115–130.
44.
MarshallSKBarryP (2015) Community sport for development: Perceptions from practice in Southern Africa. Journal of Sport Management29(1). doi:10.1123/JSM.2012-0301
45.
MartinesIC (2009). As relações entre as organizações não governamentais e o governo do estado do Paraná no campo esportivo. Master’s degree dissertation. Universidade Federal do Paraná. Available at: https://acervodigital.ufpr.br/handle/1884/18870
46.
Mejía RestrepoBENúñezPDP (2024) Sport and governance: Peacebuilding in communities affected by the armed conflict in Colombia. Sport in Society 28(1): 123–141.
47.
MorganDL (1996) Focus groups. Annual Review of Sociology22(1): 129–152.
48.
MorganHBushAMcGeeD (2021) The contribution of sport to the Sustainable Development Goals: Insights from Commonwealth Games Associations. Journal of Sport for Development9(2): 14.
49.
MouraES (2021) “I can’t because I am a man”: Masculinity, manhood, and gender equality in sport for development. Sociology of Sport Journal1(aop): 1–9.
50.
OxfordSMcLachlanF (2018) “You have to play like a man, but still be a woman”: Young female Colombians dealing with gender through participation in a sport for development and peace (SDP) organization. Sociology of Sport Journal35(3): 258–267.
51.
RhindDBrackenridgeCKayT, et al. (2015) Child protection and SDP: The post-MDG agenda for policy, practice and research. In: Hayhurst LMC, Kay T, Chawansky M (eds) Beyond Sport for Development and Peace. Routledge, 72–86.
52.
RybaTVStambulovaNBRonkainenNJ, et al. (2015) Dual career pathways of transnational athletes. Psychology of Sport and Exercise21: 125–134.
53.
SchreinerLKastrupVMayerJ (2024) Sport for development and peace in the United Nations: An empirical study on the development of the role of SDP in the UN in the context of the closure of the UNOSDP. Available at: https://www.ceeol.com/search/article-detail?id=1214575
54.
SchulenkorfNSherryERoweK (2016) Sport for development: An integrated literature review. Journal of Sport Management30(1): 22–39.
55.
SmartB (2005) The Sport Star: Modern Sport and the Cultural Economy of Sporting Celebrity. Sage.
56.
SpaaijROxfordS (2018) SDP and forced displacement. In: Collison H, Darnell SC, Giulianotti R, et al. (eds) Routledge Handbook of Sport for Development and Peace. Routledge, 385–395.
57.
SparkesACSmithB (2014) Qualitative Research Methods in Sport, Exercise and Health: From Process to Product. Oxon, UK: Routledge.
58.
StambulovaNBWyllemanP (2015) Dual career development and transitions. Psychology of Sport and Exercise21: 1–134.
59.
SugdenJTomlinsonA (2017) Sport and Peace-Building in Divided Societies: Playing with Enemies. Routledge.
60.
TrindadeNV (2017) A “caixa-branca” dos projetos sociais esportivos: o caso do Instituto Compartilhar – Curitiba/PR. M.A. dissertation. Universidade Federal do Paraná. Available at: https://acervodigital.ufpr.br/handle/1884/53491
61.
TshubeTFeltzDL (2015) The relationship between dual-career and post-sport career transition among elite athletes in South Africa, Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe. Psychology of Sport and Exercise21: 109–114.
62.
UN (2015a) Transforming our world: The 2030 agenda for sustainable development (UN, New York). Available at: http://bit.ly/TransformAgendaSDG-pdf.
63.
UN (2015b) 2015 Global sustainable development report (UN, New York). Available at: http://bit.ly/2015GSDR-pdf.
