Listening to the language of the context: problematizing researcher positionality in cross-cultural sport for development ethnographies

ABSTRACT

Despite the significant progress in critical debates around sport for development (SfD) research throughout the last decade, there is still a tendency for researchers to utilise traditional dichotomies such as ‘insider/outsider’, ‘foreign/native’, and ‘Global North/South’ when it comes to reflections on ethnographic positionality. This paper aims to go beyond these by introducing the concept of ‘listening to the language of the context’, which involves a continuous reflection of the power structures involved in the relationships between the researcher and the research site. The development and application of this concept is explained through the use of two examples from SfD ethnographic studies; one located in the Northwest of England and the other in the Southeast of Brazil. Despite their geographical differences, we found that we encountered similar issues when it came to understanding our positionality within the research site, which centred around issues of ‘language’ and ‘power’. Through our reflections, we discuss how we strove to become immersed within the research site by attempting to listen to the ‘language of the context’, which involved both familiarisation of the context beyond the immediate research setting and acknowledging the privileges associated with being granted ‘access’ to settings through NGOs and formal educational institutions. Conclusions are provided regarding how this cross-contextual comparison has highlighted the need to continue the pursuit of reflexive methodologies which amplify unheard voices in SfD, as well as the importance of ‘listening to the language of the context’ at all stages of the research process.

KEYWORDS:

• ethnography
• sport for development
• power
• positionality
• language

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. To avoid protracted debate, which is beyond the scope of this article, the term ‘sport for development’ is used to encapsulate the overlapping (yet also distinctive in their own right) bodies of work which include ‘sport for development and peace’, ‘sport for change’ and ‘sport for youth development’.

2. ‘Mither’ means to make a fuss, moan, or pester someone. ‘Mafting’ refers to a warm, sticky, and uncomfortable temperature or climate. Both are recognised as Northern English colloquial terms by various English dictionaries.

3. The original quote in Portuguese was translated by Eva to English.

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the Charles University SVV [260596]; Sports Leaders UK .

Notes on contributors

David Steven Scott

Dr David Scott is a Lecturer in Sport Development in the Division of Sport and Exercise Sciences at Abertay University. His research interests can be broadly situated within sport, sociology, existential-phenomenology, emotions, and development studies.

Eva Soares Moura

Dr Eva Soares Moura is a postdoctoral fellow at the Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University, Prague. Her empirical work focuses on sport for development programmes, with a particular emphasis on gender, empowerment, environment, and the context of Latin America.