Abstract
Despite the global diffusion of the term social inclusion, as well as the use of sport to promote it, questions have been raised regarding the extent to which sport is able to contribute to transforming the exclusive nature of the social structure. The lack of analytical clarity of the concept has not helped to address these questions. This article proposes a conceptual framework based on Amartya Sen’s capability approach, considering social exclusion as the denial of social relations that leads to serious deprivation of important capabilities. A person’s capabilities could potentially be improved through micro-, meso-, and macro-level social processes. At the micro level, sport-based social inclusion programmes could offer such social relations to varying degrees, though sport’s values are only relative to other leisure activities. The scale of impact depends primarily on the meso-level processes, in which the size and quality of each programme can be improved through organisational learning, and secondarily on the macro-level processes whereby the organisational population is institutionalised. It is argued that more research needs to be done on the meso and macro levels, as they are concerned with the ultimate potential of sport to facilitate structural transformation towards more socially inclusive society.
Highlights
The last few decades have seen the global spread of the term ‘social inclusion’ as a desirable policy objective (World Bank, 2013)
This article has argued that scholarly analyses of sport for social inclusion should be targeted at the levels of individual organisations as well as the population of organisations
This is because it would facilitate understanding of the extent to which sport can contribute to structural transformation towards a more socially inclusive society
Summary
The last few decades have seen the global spread of the term ‘social inclusion’ as a desirable policy objective (World Bank, 2013). This article resonates with Svensson and Levine’s (2017) call for using Sen’s capability approach as the normative framework to guide ‘Sport for Development and Peace’ (SDP) practice, policy and research. The first study was conducted between 2004 and 2005, investigating a sport-based programme aimed at helping young people living in disadvantaged neighbourhoods in Glasgow, Scotland (Suzuki, 2007). It was during the period when the Labour government placed ’tackling social exclusion’ at the heart of British social policy. The final section summarises the overall argument and the merits of the capability approach to the study of sport for social inclusion
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