Article in Third World Thematics

My new article in Third World Thematics: A TWQ Journal, is available online as part of a special issue on innovations in sport for development and peace. The full text is available here.

Indicator Culture in Sport for Development and Peace: A Transnational Analysis of Governance Networks

Abstract

This article analyses sport for development and peace (SDP) governance, focusing specifically on the role of indicator culture. It examines how different actors inform SDP governance, drawing upon data collected as part of a larger, multi-sited ethnographic research project. It utilizes actor–network theory as its analytical guide, which enables deeper consideration of how bureaucratic mechanisms, measurement and evaluation practices, political and funding mandates, and postcolonial ideologies converge in the development of SDP initiatives in the Pacific. Findings point to tensions within the broader embrace of indicator culture and how SDP is uniquely positioned to illuminate the dilemmas that result.