The article examines the relationship between sport for development & peace and SMEs as platforms for accelerating human development & social change.
The article contributes to the burgeoning literature pertaining to the relationship between Sport Mega-Events (SMEs) and sport for development and peace (SDP) as viable platforms for accelerating human development and social change goals at local, regional and international levels. Recently, there has been a notable increase in the number of emerging economies in the global South, demonstrating their aspirations to bid and (if successful) host SMEs (Black & Northam, 2017; Darnell & Black, 2011). This demonstrates the exponential growth in the recognition of SMEs as apparatuses for delivering domestic as well as international policy aspirations. This article therefore explores what this development entails for the sport mega-event and sport for development and peace nexus (SME-SDP, hereafter).
The article considers how the SME-SDP nexus, within the context of global South SME hosts, can be leveraged by SDP policy actors, academics and practitioners. Leveraging SMEs by the global South based SDP field actors will require a fresh strategic direction that capitalises on the opportunities that global South SME hosts present to advance SDP policy and practice. The article argues that the SME-SDP nexus can strategically be leveraged to address the criticisms levelled against the nature of deployment of SDP activities, particularly in the global South. The article, therefore, discusses some historical limitations not only pertinent to the SDP field but to the wider development sector.
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