The aim of this special issue for the Journal Sport for Development (JSFD) is to encourage critical discussions on sport for development and peace (SDP) in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). Notwithstanding a growing body of knowledge being created in the emergent interdisciplinary academic field of SDP, there is an evident lack of research and evidence base on the social dimension of sport in a transition region as significant to the global SDP sector as LAC. This is ironic given that sport has been purposely employed as a social catalyst in this part of the world for more than two decades. Furthermore, we are aware of that there is no one size fits all methodology when it comes to SDP programme development, and taken into the consideration that the setting places paramount role in SDP interventions, there are lessons to be learned and share in SDP across a region as diverse as LAC.
An investigation conducted by Cronin (2011) (conducted in Spanish to discount language bias), showed that research input on South America accounted for less than 2 percent of SDP research conducted globally. Indeed, there was no data was recorded from Central America. To put this into a global context, Africa, another transition region, contributed more than 20 percent of the total SDP research produced. Whilst recent years has seen a small trickle of studies relating to SDP in LAC (see Cárdenas, 2013, 2015; Rock, Valle & Grabman, 2013; Mendigo et al., 2014; Kath and van Buuren, 2014; Kaufman, Rosenbauer & Moore, 2014), it has fundamentally failed to provide a coherent and systematic picture of the SDP phenomenon in this part of the world. There remains a significant gap in evidence for this region.
The topics covered in this special issue aims to include the following, although the list is not exhaustive:
- The use of sport to promote social cohesion in underserved communities
- Stakeholder perspectives and experiences of SDP
- Methodological diverse or innovative research
- Effective SDP programme design and implementation
- Sport and health
- SDP programme evaluation / assessment
- SDP programme design, development and implementation issues and challenges
- Translating theory to practice
- Social policy on sport for development and peace
- The use of sport and sport-based programmes for peace and conflict resolution, social inclusion, urban violence
- Social legacy of sport mega events.
- Sport and gender
- Sport and inclusion of people with disabilities
Additionally, we invite submissions drawing on a range of perspectives to advance knowledge and understanding in the field, but they must primarily focus on the LAC region.
Key dates and details for submissions
To discuss a potential submission, please do not hesitate to contact any of the special issue guest editors, whose details are below. To be considered for the special issue, upload your manuscript through JSFD’s online portal (www.jsfd.org) by Monday 16 January 2017. Please indicate that the manuscript should be considered for this special issue in your cover letter. All submissions will be reviewed by the guest editors and will be sent to double-blind peer review. It is anticipated that the special issue will be published in 2018.
Guest editors’ contact details and their languages
Dr Daniel Parnell, Manchester Metropolitan University (d.parnell@mmu.ac.uk), English
Dr Alexander Cárdenas, Open University of Catalonia (alexcarmen@yabhoo.com), Spanish/English
Dr Paul Widdop, Leeds Beckett University (p.widdop@leedsbeckett.ac.uk), English
Dr Pedro Pablo Cardoso Castro, Leeds Beckett University (p.p.cardoso-castro@leedsbeckett.ac.uk), Spanish/English
Dr Sibylle Lang, Geneva Centre for Security Policy (sibyllelang@gmx.de), German/English/French/Spanish.
References
Cárdenas, A. (2013). Peace building through sport? An introduction to sport for development and peace. Journal of Conflictology, 4(1), 24-33.
Cárdenas, A (2015). The use of football and other sports for peace-building in Colombia and Northern Ireland (doctoral dissertation). University Jaume I, Spain.
Cronin, Ó. (2011). Mapping the research on the impact of sport and development interventions (Comic Relief Review). London, UK: Comic Relief.
Kaufman, Z., Rosenbauer, B.P., & Moore, G. (2014). Lessons Learned from Monitoring and Evaluating Sport-for-Development Programmes in the Caribbean. In N. Schulenkorf & D. Adair (Eds), Global Sport For Development, Critical Perspectives. Palgrave Macmillan.
Mandigo, J., Corlett, J., Ticas, P., & Vasquez, R. (2014). The role of physical education in the prevention of youth violence. A life-skills based approach in El Salvador. In K. Young & C. Okada (Eds.), Sport, Social Development and Peace. Bingley, UK: Emerald.
Rock, K., Valle, C., & Grabman, G. (2013). Physical inactivity among adolescents in Managua, Nicaragua: a cross-sectional study and legal analysis. Journal of Sport for Development 1 (1), 48-59.
Kath, E., & van Buuren, N. G. (2014). Soldados Nunca Mais: Child Soldiers, Football and Social Change in Rio Janeiro’s Favelas. In N. Schulenkorf & D. Adair (Eds), Global Sport-For-Development, Critical Perspectives. Palgrave Macmillan.
