Sport for Development in Zambia: The New or not so New Colonisation?

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this chapter is to examine the experiences of indigenous participants in Global North led sport for development programmes. The chapter considers whether the experiences of indigenous participants reflect the neo-colonialist claims levied at such initiatives.

Design/methodology/approach – The chapter draws on findings from a qualitative study utilising in depth interviews with 14 young women who participated in a sport for development initiative and 8 mothers and grandmothers.

Findings – The research illustrates how we can construct sport for development initiatives as neo-colonial activities imposed on indigenous participants by Global North agencies. However, we argue that this alone does not capture the complexity of experience at local level and the young women we interviewed highlighted the important place sport for development programmes have within their lives and how they reshape them to provide resources that are valuable for them within their communities.

Research limitations/implications – The challenges of navigating power relationships as Global North researchers working in the Global South are highlighted and their potential impact on the research discussed.

Originality/value – The chapter highlights the importance of understanding indigenous experiences in sport for development programmes. Such local level analysis is lacking within current literature.

Citation

Jeanes, R., Magee, J., Kay, T. and Banda, D. (2013), "Sport for Development in Zambia: The New or not so New Colonisation?", Native Games: Indigenous Peoples and Sports in the Post-Colonial World (Research in the Sociology of Sport, Vol. 7), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 127-145. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1476-2854(2013)0000007011