Transnational organizations and practitioners who use sport for international development often position sport as a unique option for tackling development challenges. While sport can be a tool for social change, the authors in this collection bring a critical eye to this assumption and offer new perspectives on the use of sport for development and peace (SDP) in local and global contexts. The book seeks to generate new dialogues and explore linkages for development and SDP researchers through considerations of sport’s potential to challenge and/or perpetuate key global issues and problems. These analyses consider the SDP work done ‘on the ground’ and interrogate the historical, social and political circumstances of these practices. The authors explore how best to examine, theorize, critique and potentially improve local SDP initiatives.

This book will be of great interest to students and researchers of both Development Studies and Sport. It was originally published as a special issue of the online journal Third World Thematics.