Author Description

The use of sport to contribute to various development agendas has gained significant global prominence since the beginning of the 21st century, aligned with a rapid expansion in the scale of sport for development activities in diverse contexts across the global South. Academic research and publications on sport for development have also proliferated. This jointly-authored book contributes to this field by offering an important departure from prevailing approaches to research and developing an 'evidence base' on sport for development. Drawing on nearly a decade of wide-ranging, multidisciplinary research undertaken with young people and adults living in urban communities in Zambia as well as those who work with them, the book presents a localized account that extends existing understandings of global sport for development. Offering wide-ranging historical, political, economic and social contextualization, it examines how a key period in the expansion of the sport for development sector unfolded in Zambia; considers the significance of varying degrees of integration and partnership practices between sport for development and development agencies at different levels; and outlines approaches to the provision of sport for development activities in various communities. Detailed examination of the lives, experiences and responses of young people involved in these activities, drawn from their own accounts, is a key feature of the book. Concluding reflections identify possibilities for enhancing understanding and improving research and evidence through methodologies which 'localize global sport for development'.