The World Cup and social cohesion Bread and circuses or bread and butter?

1. The World Cup and social cohesion Bread and circuses or bread and butter? Too many coats of convenience hanging on too many conceptually loose pegs Prof Fred Coalter University of Stirling

2. Bread and circuses or bread and butter? A personal introduction The journey of a liberal white man Complex/dynamic political, economic, ethnic and cultural situation ‘whatever you say, say nothing’ So, what do we know about events……….? Little substantive evidence: nature and extent of social impacts Complexities of uneven development of developing societies

3. Events and social cohesion The match programme (i) Imagined communities. (ii) The development of forms of social capital The soft infrastructure/’soft economics’ agenda  Processes of bidding, managing and delivery. The development and management of ‘volunteers’ Investment in sport-for-development organisations.

4. Imagined Communities Lack of face-to-face contactLanguage, media and symbolic practices ‘the imagined community of millions seems more real as a team of eleven named people’ Hobsbawn (1990) Miller Civic and ethnic national identities: difficult in SA  culturally based nationalism might be possible Rugby, cricketfootball Soccer throughout its history in South Africa has been a signifier for ‘respectability’, African initiative, political struggle, individual freedom, escapism and capitalism through its pervasive role of urban black communitiesNauright

5. Sport and imagined communities 90 minute patriots • Role of sport in broad issue of social cohesion is minor. • Big problems are political, economic and social • Sport cannot work miracles • Fodimi Thabo Embeki quotes Nauright (1997) The overall conception of what South Africa is, or should be, is still being negotiated through lived experience and discursively through the media and other forms of public discourse…Sport is but one area where the South African nation can exist, however, the divisions that exist in sport and within wider South African society mean that it will take a long time before a truly ‘national’ identity is forged and takes account of race, class and gender differences.

6. Which road to social cohesion? All of them …….and I am not sure that I would start here

7. This is a tough league Social cohesion : core concern of sociology (ies)  Factors promoting equity in distribution of opportunities (e.g. poverty, educational opportunities, social mobility), and  Capacity for cooperation based on high levels of social capital (compliance with law, interpersonal trust, trust in public institutions and politicians).

8. Playing in mid field Grand narrative/sports evangelism  middle range theory  Mechanisms, processes, networks and ‘purposive action’   Sport Magic box; social vaccine     

9. A (social) capital prospect Putnam and team work Strong social networks/civic infrastructure/social norms/mutual trust/reciprocity Bonding social capital  ‘like us’; ‘sociological superglue’; getting by; ‘dark side’ Bridging social capital  ‘a sociological WD40’; friends  colleagues  ‘getting ahead’ • Linking social capital (Woodcock) • vertical connections between different social strata/ outside community Coleman and personal goals Social capitalhuman capital Organic  ‘ rationally devised material and status incentives’

10. The ‘soft-infrastructure’ of events Partnerships  bridging and linking capital Urban and political elites/’boosterists’/ FIFA Kim et al South Korean World Cup Lack of involvement in the planning and decision-making process • Misener and Mason (2006) : forms of bridging and linking capital • Community values central to all decision-making processes • All stakeholders, esp community interest groups, involved in strategic activities • Collaborative action  empower local communities agents of change • Linkages: community members local elites/power structures • Open communication/mutual learning throughout strategic activities Hiller Cape Town Olympic Steering Committees ‘transmitting information about Olympic plans for reaction’

11. ‘Volunteering’ and active citizenship ‘Volunteering’ : key index of social capital brings people into contact with those outside their normal circle, broadening horizons and raising expectations, and can link people into informal networks through which work is more easily found. High economic value high social value Chalip: Sydney Olympics: Aus$1  Aus$10  c 4.5% saving on total budget Human resource management: volunteer development strategy Strategic/systematic approach to recruitment/training/retention Manchester Commonwealth Games: PGVP Coleman: social capital and human capital: purposive

12. Sport for development Evangelism  ‘rationally devised material and status incentives’ UN: Sport-in-development volunteering Social welfare/community participation/trust and reciprocity  Bonding social capital Papacharisisi et al (2005) ‘there is nothing about …sport itself that is magical…It is the experience of sport that may facilitate the result’ Sport …… plus Mathare Youth Sport Association (MYSA)

13. Strategy, tactics and managing for a result Inputs  Outputs Programmes  Sporting Inclusion Equity/target groups/frequency  Sporting outcomes Skills/competencies/sporting ethics  Individual outcomes Personal/social development [self-efficacy/esteem]  Theory of change?  Outcomes Changed behaviour Peer leaders more important than programmes: people/responsible citizens

14. Going beyond the touchline ‘important sector of civil society’ ‘integrated partnership approach ... involving a full spectrum of actors in field- based community development including all levels/sectors of government, sports organisations, NGOs and the private sector Bridging and linking social capital Seippel  Isolated clubs: sport/bonding Connected clubs: bridging/linking But who writes [and interprets] the rules of the game? • Woolcock and Narayan (2006) Institutional View • Civil society organisations not simple substitutes for the state • Thrive to extent that state encourages them. • In the absence of ‘civic and government social capital’: limited impact

15. Trickle down and the road to hell…….. Since the Games are not about development per se, the Games could only be developmental to the extent that there was a deliberate will to make them so. Embracing principles and putting them into operation are two different things – constantly endangered by finances, time constraints and politics Hiller ‘fragmented, one-service-at-a-time programs, dissociated from people’s total patterns of living’Weiss What are the material, cultural, economic basis of social cohesion? • Winning (from) the World Cup • From sports evangelism  • Systematic strategy, planning and implementation • Sustained hard work, based on a coherent strategy • Understanding of the importance of tactics…… ……even then you might not win all your games.