Sport for Development and Transformative Social Change: The Potential of Margaret Archer's Morphogenetic Approach to Reconceptualize a Long-Standing Problem

Frequent calls for sport for development (SFD) to be reoriented toward transformative social change reflect the extent that policies and programs have instead focused on individualized forms of personal development. However, SFD research has yet to substantially address fundamental ontological assum...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Lindsey, I. (Author), Wiltshire, G. (Author)
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Human Kinetics Publishers Inc. 2022
Subjects:
Online Access:View Fulltext in Publisher
Description
Summary:Frequent calls for sport for development (SFD) to be reoriented toward transformative social change reflect the extent that policies and programs have instead focused on individualized forms of personal development. However, SFD research has yet to substantially address fundamental ontological assumptions and underlying conceptualizations of transformative social change. To addresses this gap, this article considers how Margaret Archer's Morphogenetic Approach can help explain how transformative social change might occur through SFD activities. Three conceptual contributions are brought into focus: (a) assuming a realist social ontology; (b) making distinctions between structure, culture, and agency; and (c) identifying social change as happening across three temporal phases. The authors conclude by identifying potential benefits and implications of applying the Morphogenetic Approach to consider the potential for SFD to contribute to social change. © 2022 Human Kinetics, Inc
ISBN:07411235 (ISSN)
DOI:10.1123/ssj.2020-0112