Utopian community football? Sport, hope and belongingness in the lives of refugees and asylum seekers

Abstract

Refugees and asylum seekers have become increasingly demonised as part of anti-migrant sentiment leading to social exclusion. Sport has been utilised as a tool for social cohesion though evidence as to its efficacy in such a task is limited. Based on a three-year research programme exploring the role of football in the lives of refugees and asylum seekers in the U.K., this paper examines the concept of belonging, provides evidence for the role of community-based sport in social development and concludes with a call for practitioners to maximise their belief in concrete utopian ideals without losing the inherent critical approach needed to positively develop the industry in which they work.

Keywords:

• Asylum seekers
• belonging
• football (Soccer)
• hope
• Lefebvre
• refugees

Notes

1. According to local government figures, approximately 19% of the city’s population are from black and minority ethnic groups. The largest of those groups is the Pakistani community, but Sheffield also has large Caribbean, Indian, Bangladeshi, Somali, Yemeni and Chinese communities (https://www.sheffield.gov.uk/your-city-council/sheffield-profile/population-and-health.html).

2. Firstly, communication is not confined to perfect spoken language, thus findings that inform this paper stem from the way in which football participation itself can overcome such barriers alongside time spent with participants getting to understand their situations.

Secondly, when greater clarity is required (in all sorts of situations – not just for the benefit of a social researcher) individuals rely on others with better language skills to interpret for them; hence the value of group interviews (other weaknesses notwithstanding in terms of group dynamics and power relationships between those with stronger and weaker language skills).

Thirdly, being in the field for such a period of time provides ‘triangulation’ opportunities in the search for greater internal ‘validity’ as research questions can be reframed in different contexts and confirmed through observation and repetition (see Denzin & Lincoln, 1998). This leads to an interpretive account of participants’ hopes and desires for belonging that emerged over time spent in the field and theoretical engagement with the concept.

3. When focusing on the subtleties and nuances of how everyday lives become necessarily routine whilst theoretically engaging with the notion of belonging, direct questioning presents limitations due to the pre-reflective nature of the everyday (see Garfinkel, 1967) leaving the researcher to rely on intuitive frameworks that combine ethnographic ‘realities’ with interpretive ‘understandings’ (Blackshaw, 2003).

I am not claiming an insider perspective or ‘dual consciousness’ with regards to the experience of forced migration, but rather an involved experience of football participation that when reflexively monitored reveals similarities and differences between myself and the various research participants in what is taken for granted as part of an embodied practice in relation to notions of belonging.

4. The organisation running the sessions is rooted in an anti-racist philosophy, promotes inclusionary practice, is staffed by a multicultural team and is located in a building frequented by people from diverse ethnic minority backgrounds.

5. Support for the sessions included covering travel costs of participants to attend, providing sports kit and footwear to play in, warm showers (as well as towels and toiletries) and the opportunity to sit down and share a good quality meal together afterwards. Support staff and volunteers are experienced in working with minority groups generally, have good conflict resolution skills and knowledge about the asylum system to provide helpful advice to those facing problems and manage tensions that were unable to be resolved within the group.

6. The group were regularly consulted regarding issues that arose and members encouraged to take on tasks of cooking food, washing kit and organising more competitive matches (with financial support provided where needed).