Maintaining and disrupting global-North hegemony/global-South dependence in a local African sport for development organisation: the role of institutional work

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 521-537 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mitchell McSweeney ◽  
Lisa Kikulis ◽  
Lucie Thibault ◽  
Lyndsay Hayhurst ◽  
Cathy van Ingen
Keyword(s):  
Global South ◽  
Institutional Work ◽  
Sport For Development ◽  
Development Organisation ◽  
Global North

Ethnographic reflections of the role of Global North volunteers in sport-for-development

2019 ◽  
Vol 55 (7) ◽  
pp. 953-974 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryan Lucas ◽  
Ruth Jeanes
Keyword(s):  
Solomon Islands ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Global South ◽  
Post Colonial ◽  
Sport For Development ◽  
Colonial Theory ◽  
Global North ◽  
Ethnographic Methodology ◽  
Approach Working

This article critically examines the work undertaken by Global North volunteers in Global South sport-for-development programmes. Whilst existing studies acknowledge the centrality of Northern volunteers to the delivery of sport-for-development programmes in the Global South, there are few detailed explorations of how volunteers approach working in diverse cultural contexts and their impact on local communities. Drawing on an ethnographic methodology and post-colonial theory, the article reflects on the first author’s experiences as an AusAID funded volunteer working as a cricket development officer in the Solomon Islands. In addition to the first author’s fieldnotes and critical reflections, the article draws on interviews conducted with indigenous and expatriate stakeholders involved in the sport-for-development programme. The findings demonstrate the complexities of Global North volunteers’ engagement with sport-for-development. The use of post-colonial theory illustrates the ways in which Global North volunteers can perpetuate neo-colonial initiatives and systems of working that are imposed on Global South communities. The study suggests that volunteers can be very aware of their position but can feel helpless in challenging external agencies to promote more culturally sensitive and localised approaches to development work. Furthermore, the paper indicates the complications of developing localised initiatives, indicating how external agencies, through the Global North volunteer, used indigenous people to create the impression that programmes are locally driven. The paper concludes by examining the ways in which indigenous communities resisted the imposition of a sport-for-development initiative that did not meet their needs.

scholarly journals Exploring Sport and Intergroup Relations in Fiji: Guidance for Researchers Undertaking Short-Term Ethnography

2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 277-288 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jack Thomas Sugden ◽  
Daryl Adair ◽  
Nico Schulenkorf ◽  
Stephen Frawley
Keyword(s):  
Intergroup Relations ◽  
Field Work ◽  
Global South ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Sport For Development ◽  
Local Experience ◽  
Global North ◽  
Peace Study

There is a key tension associated with ethnographic explorations into the lives of people in the Global South – ‘outsider’ researchers from the Global North who lack experience of the environments they are seeking to understand. A considered response, therefore, is for scholars to seek physical immersion in a field—to live among those they are trying to understand. Such ethnographic inquiries are optimal when researchers have the capacity to engage over long periods of time. However, in some circumstances, this may not feasible. Thus, questions arise about the veracity of field work investigations that are not only temporally brief but undertaken by scholars who lack local experience. This paper reflects on the experiences of a researcher who was faced with those challenges. It provides guidance as to how scholars might prepare for short-term ethnography (STE) in field work, along with the limitations and constraints of such an approach. The research centered on a sport for development and peace study into intergroup relations and ethnic separatism in Fijian sport.

scholarly journals Housing systems in the Global South: The relevance of the ‘social housing’ approach in meeting housing needs

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alireza Vaziri Zadeh ◽  
Frank Moulaert ◽  
Stuart Cameron
Keyword(s):  
Affordable Housing ◽  
Social Housing ◽  
Decisive Role ◽  
Global South ◽  
Housing Systems ◽  
The Social ◽  
Housing Rights ◽  
Global North ◽  
Housing Needs

This paper addresses the problem of accessing decent and affordable housing in the Global South, where the housing need is, in general, more problematic than in the Global North. The paper first identifies five distinctive characteristics of housing systems in the Global South as compared to those in the Global North. These include: (a) the diverse facets of global financialization; (b) the role of the developmentalist state; (c) the importance of informality; (d) the decisive role of the family; and (e) the rudimentary welfare systems. Given these features, the paper reflects on the concept and practices of social housing, particularly their appropriateness to deal with the housing problem in the Global South. The paper then addresses the question of whether the social housing approach is relevant for solving the contemporary housing needs in the Global South. It argues that social housing, redefined to better encompass the distinctive characteristics of housing systems in the Global South, is indeed a useful policy approach and can play a decisive role in satisfying unmet housing needs. Such an approach needs to take into account the great role of informality and family support systems and develop appropriate funding instruments and modes of institutionalization protecting housing rights and the quality of life.

scholarly journals Geographies of waste: Conceptual vectors from the Global South

2018 ◽  
Vol 43 (6) ◽  
pp. 1044-1063 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nate Millington ◽  
Mary Lawhon
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Global South ◽  
Costs And Benefits ◽  
Relational Understanding ◽  
Neoliberal Governance ◽  
Global North ◽  
North And South

Geographies of waste, which include examination of its flows and politics, have demonstrated empirical differences and contrasting approaches to researching waste in the Global North and South. Southern waste geographies have largely focused on case studies of informality and (neoliberal) governance. We draw on Southern theory to argue that this focus can be productively extended through greater consideration of the production of value and the role of materiality and technology in the wastescape. We argue that a relational understanding of multiscalar wastescapes contributes insights into the distribution of costs and benefits as well as what enables and constrains the extraction of value for different actors.

scholarly journals The Politics of Transnational Advocacy Against Chinese, Indian, and Brazilian Extractive Projects in the Global South

2021 ◽  
pp. 107049652110190
Author(s):  
Leah Shipton ◽  
Peter Dauvergne
Keyword(s):  
Emerging Economies ◽  
Domestic Politics ◽  
Global South ◽  
Transnational Advocacy ◽  
State Repression ◽  
Transnational Advocacy Networks ◽  
Global North ◽  
Opening Up ◽  
Cross National

Activists in the global South have been navigating two powerful trends since the mid-1990s: intensifying state repression and rising investment in extractive projects from the emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (BRICS). In this context, this article explores the underlying forces determining the formation, endurance, and power of BRICS–South transnational advocacy networks (TANs) opposed to BRICS-based corporate extraction in the global South. By analyzing activism against Chinese, Indian, and Brazilian extractive projects in Ecuador, Ethiopia, and Mozambique, respectively, the research reveals the critical importance of domestic politics and civil society characteristics in both the BRICS and host states for shaping BRICS–South TANs, including which groups assume leadership, the extent of cross-national cooperation, and the role of nonprofits headquartered in the global North. The findings uncover core reasons for the variable resiliency and capacity of BRICS–South TANs, opening up new avenues of research and offering valuable insights for activists and policymakers.

scholarly journals The BRICS Countries Grouping: Promise of a New Thematic and Methodological Research Focus in the Social Sciences and the Humanities

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (5) ◽  
pp. 3-13
Author(s):  
Charl Wolhuter ◽  
Oxana Chigisheva
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Social Science ◽  
Potential Role ◽  
Global South ◽  
Social Sciences And Humanities ◽  
Brics Countries ◽  
The Social ◽  
Global North ◽  
Science Community

The aim of this research, as part of this Special Issue on the thematic and epistemological foci of social science and humanities research emanating in the BRICS countries, is to investigate and to assess the value of such research— firstly, for the BRICS countries mutually, then for the rest of the Global South as well as for the global humanities and social science community at large. The rationale of this research is that the BRICS countries have come to assume a growing gravitas in the world, not only on strength of geography, demography and economy; but also because of the diversity contained in each of these BRICS countries. These diversities offer opportunities to learn a lot from each other, in addition the rest of the gamut of countries in the Global South as well as the nations of the Global North can benefit much from learning from the experience of the BRICS countries. The research commences with a survey of the most compelling societal trends shaping the 21st Century world, which will form the parameters of the context in which scholarship in the social sciences and humanities are destined to be conducted. The state of scholarship in the humanities and the social sciences and the imperatives of context will be the next topic under discussion. Within this landscape, the potential role of research on BRICS soil is then turned to. The BRICS countries are surveyed, then a conclusion is ventured as to their potential as a fountainhead for social sciences and humanities research.

scholarly journals Avoiding the humanitarian trap: The ‘Nobelization’ of food aid

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-5
Author(s):  
Lanika Sanders
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Response ◽  
Global South ◽  
Food Aid ◽  
Nobel Peace Prize ◽  
Sustainable Development Goal ◽  
The World ◽  
Global North ◽  
Zero Hunger ◽  
Relief Efforts

Despite the significant role that hunger relief has played in global emergency response efforts throughout much of the last century—notably showcased with the 2015 naming of ‘Zero Hunger’ as the second Sustainable Development Goal, and more recently when the World Food Program was awarded the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize—significant hunger and malnutrition remain. Concerningly, past crises have demonstrated the potential for hunger relief efforts, particularly the provisioning of food aid, to undermine the ability of Global South countries and communities to recovery fully from shocks. This commentary takes a critical look at the role of food aid during extended crises and presents several thoughts for how aid agencies and Global North governments can continue to work toward Zero Hunger while simultaneously supporting Global South economies and cultures.

scholarly journals The geopolitics of South–South infrastructure development: Chinese-financed energy projects in the global South

Urban Studies ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 56 (7) ◽  
pp. 1368-1385 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giles Mohan ◽  
May Tan-Mullins
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Construction Projects ◽  
Global South ◽  
Political Elite ◽  
Infrastructure Development ◽  
Energy Projects ◽  
Elite Level ◽  
Global North ◽  
Chinese Banks

Debates around infrastructure tend to focus on the global North, yet in the global South demand for infrastructure is huge and we see new and emergent actors engaged in finance and construction; China being pre-eminent among them. China’s interests in the global South have grown apace over the past decade, especially in terms of accessing resources and securing infrastructure deals. The role of Chinese banks and State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) in financing and building the projects reveals a blurring between geopolitical and commercial interests and processes. The article situates China’s entry into the global South as part of a geopolitics that is simultaneously geoeconomic and interrogates these issues through case studies of Chinese-backed projects in Ghana and Cambodia. These projects are spatially and politically complex, with China adopting a range of financing models – often including an element of resource swaps – in which bank finance is critical and marks the Chinese as different from Western financiers. These international deals are secured at the political elite level and so bypass established forms of national governance and accountability in the recipient countries, while the turnkey construction projects remain locally enclaved. The cases also show that wider developmental benefits are limited, with ‘ordinary’ citizens – especially those in the rural areas – gaining relatively little from these major energy projects and the benefits accruing to urban-based elites.

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