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Abstract
In recent years, three notable trends have emerged in the gender and development landscape: the increasing use of sport as a tool to achieve gender and development objectives (SGD); the expanding involvement of transnational corporations (TNCs) in creating, funding and implementing development programs; and the ‘girling’ of development. The last trend has largely been facilitated by the proliferation of the global ‘Girl Effect’ campaign, or ‘the unique potential of 600 million adolescent girls to end poverty for themselves and the world’ (Girl Effect 2011). This article reports on findings from a global ethnography – involving semi-structured interviews, participant observation and document analysis – that considered how sport-oriented Girl Effect interventions impact the lives of girls they target. Using a Girl Effect-focused partnership among a TNC (based in Western Europe), an international nongovernmental organization (NGO) (based in Western Europe) and a Southern NGO (based in Uganda) as a case study, this article examines how SGD programs for Ugandan girls encourage them to become ‘entrepreneurs of themselves’ (Rose 1999) equipped to survive in the current global neoliberal climate using social entrepreneurial tactics such as training to be martial arts instructors combined with activities such as cultivating nuts. Results show how Girl Effect-oriented SGD programs that focus on social entrepreneurship tend to overlook the broader structural inequalities and gender relations that marginalize girls in the first place. I conclude by suggesting that future studies must further explore the socio-economic, cultural and political implications and consequences that social entrepreneurship and ‘economic forms’ of SGD interventions hold for girls.
El “Efecto Niña” y las artes marciales: el emprendimiento social y el deporte, el género y el desarrollo en Uganda
En los últimos años, tres tendencias notables emergieron en el paisaje del género y el desarrollo: el creciente uso del deporte como herramienta para lograr objetivos de género y desarrollo (SGD, por sus siglas en inglés); la participación en creciente de las corporaciones transnacionales (CTN) en la creación, la financiación y la implementación de los programas de desarrollo; y el “aniñamiento” (girling) del desarrollo. La última tendencia ha sido principalmente facilitada por la proliferación de la campaña global “Efecto Niña” o “el potencial único de 600 millones de adolescentes mujeres para terminar con la pobreza por ellas mismas y para el mundo” (Girl Effect 2011, sin paginar). Este artículo informa sobre los resultados de una etnografía global – que involucra entrevistas semiestructuradas, observación participante y análisis de documentos – que consideró cómo las intervenciones del Efecto Niña orientadas al deporte impactan sobre las vidas de las niñas a las que están dirigidas. Utilizando una sociedad centrada en el Efecto Niña entre una CTN (basada en Europa occidental), una organización no gubernamental (ONG) (basada en Europa occidental) y una ONG del sur (basada en Uganda) como estudio de caso, este artículo analiza cómo los programas SGD para las niñas ugandesas estimulan a las mismas a convertirse en “emprendedoras de sí mismas” (Rose 1999), equipadas para sobrevivir en el actual clima neoliberal global utilizando tácticas de emprendimiento social tales como la capacitación para ser instructoras de artes marciales combinado con actividades como el cultivo de frutas secas. Los resultados muestran cómo los programas SGD con orientación Efecto Niña que se centran en el emprendimiento social tienden a pasar por alto las desigualdades estructurales y las relaciones de género más amplias que marginalizan a las niñas en primer término. Concluyo sugiriendo que los futuros estudios deben explorar más las implicancias y consecuencias socioeconómicas, culturales y políticas que el emprendimiento social y las “formas económicas” de las intervenciones SGD tienen para las niñas.
“女孩效应与武术：乌干达的社会企业与运动、性别及发展
近年来，性别与发展的地景中浮现三个显着的趋势：日益增加使用运动做为达成性别与发展目标之工具（SGD）；跨国企业（TNCs）逐渐扩展参与至发展计画的创造、资助与执行；以及 “女孩般” 的发展。最后一项趋势主要由盛行全球的 “女孩效应” 倡议运动所促成，亦为 “六亿青少女为自身与世界终止贫穷的独特潜能” 的倡议运动（女孩效应 2011 ，未标明页码）。本文报告全球民族志中的发现——包含半结构式访谈、参与式观察与档案分析——考量以运动为目标的 “女孩效应” 之介入，如何影响其所锁定的女孩的生活。本文以一个跨国企业（驻西欧）、一个跨国非政府组织（驻西欧）以及一个全球南方非政府组织（驻乌干达）共同聚焦 “女孩效应” 的伙伴关係做为案例研究，检视为乌干达少女发起的 SGD 计画如何运用社会企业的技术，例如将之训练为武术指导员，并结合如栽种坚果等活动，鼓励这些女孩成为 “自己的老闆” （Rose 1999），以在当前的全球新自由主义氛围中生存。研究结果显示，聚焦社会企业并以 “女孩效应” 为目标的 SGD 计画，倾向忽略当初边缘化这些女孩的更为广阔之结构性不平等及性别关係。我在结论中提议，未来的研究必须进一步探讨社会企业与 SGD 介入的 “经济形势” ，对少女产生的社会—经济、文化与政治意涵及后果。
Acknowledgements
This article draws on research from the author's doctoral dissertation, funded in part by a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Doctoral Fellowship, and through the support of a Junior and Senior Doctoral Fellowship from the Lupina Foundation's Comparative Program on Health and Society at the Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto. I am especially grateful to the reviewers for their insightful feedback and to Dr Audrey Giles, Mark Norman and Dr Kyoung Yim Kim for their useful comments on previous drafts. I would also like to express my gratitude to Drs Bruce Kidd, Margaret MacNeill, Karen Mundy, Peter Donnelly and Annelies Knoppers for their guidance and thoughtful suggestions on my dissertation, upon which this article is based. Perhaps most importantly, I would like to thank the community of ‘Winita’ and SNGO, INGO and STNC staff members for their time, passion, energy and involvement in this research. Of course, any oversights or errors are entirely my own.
Notes
1. Though there are many terms used for distinguishing the (messy) geographical divisions between North/South, I concur with Mohanty (2006, 226–227, drawing on Esteva and Prakash Citation1998) that ‘One-Third World’ (to refer to the Global North) and ‘Two-Thirds World’ (to refer to the Global South) attempt to remove ideological and geographical binaries as found in other terms (e.g., North/ South), while also highlighting the fluidity and nuances of global forces that continue to position people as the social minorities and majorities in both the ‘North’ and ‘South.’
2. I employ the term ‘girl’ throughout this article while recognizing that ‘disciplinary definitions of the ‘girl’ are both constructions (i.e., artificial classifications) and lived realities (i.e., real experiences) at the same time,’ (Pomerantz Citation2009, 147). Thus, to avoid the patronizing and tenuous language associated with ‘the girl,’ I avoid using this language when referring to the participants in this research. Instead, I make every effort to refer to them as ‘young women’ or the ‘young martial arts trainers.’
3. In 2000, 189 world leaders committed to realizing the Millenium Development Goals by 2015. These eight goals aim to fight poverty, and support a framework for designing and development programs in nations throughout the Global South (referred to as the ‘Two-Thirds World’ throughout this article – see note 1).
4. See also Hayhurst, MacNeill, and Frisby (Citation2011) for further discussion on these issues.
5. Winita is a fictional name I have given to region to protect the identity of the NGO and research participants.
6. All names have been changed for the purposes of anonymity.
7. This quote is taken from the organization's website – however, the organization (SNGO) is anonymous; therefore, I am unable to reveal where the reference is from.
8. Although this contact did not involve the researcher actually partaking in the martial arts initiative, she did spend significant amounts of time with the SNGO staff and the young women involved in this venture. The author's residence in Uganda (during her fieldwork) was a five-minute walk from SNGO's office, which was visited daily, usually from 10 am to 4 pm. The researcher also went to three training grounds located in three villages within the Winita District to observe the young trainers execute sessions for karate and taekwondo. Her observation of the young women's participation in the martial arts activities was beneficial for understanding and confirming themes that emerged throughout interviews.
9. One of the limitations to this approach is the challenge of remaining attentive to issues of scale (i.e., the global-local nexus). In this study, it was imperative to keep concerns about the ethics of representation in view; as such, I tried to remain responsible to the location and place throughout my study. By outlining the ‘political-economic’ context of Uganda in the article, I feel as though I was able to emphasize the importance of ‘place’ in this study.
10. This finding is similar to the work of Guest (Citation2009, 1347), who contends that in the local community where he conducted ethnographic work in Angola, sport ‘was more likely to represent an opportunity for remunerative adult work.’
11. In this context, ‘digging’ refers to shoveling small holes often needed by landowners to plant crops.
12. In this quote, Lesley seems to portray those in the Two-Thirds World as ‘lazy,’ and ‘unreliable,’ subsequently eschewing culturally specific ways of understanding a very Western-based notion of ‘work,’ particularly as Lesley maintains that ‘they’ (people in the Two-Thirds World) ‘don't know what that [work] is.’ It is important to note, however, that this quote represents the perceptions and beliefs of Lesley, and not necessarily INGO.
13. This is not to suggest that engaging in prostitution is not a very serious issue of gender-based exploitation. Though addressing this issue is beyond the scope of this article, it is important to recognize that Ugandan girls are particularly susceptible to multiple forms of exploitation and abuse.
†A version of this article was presented at the ‘Transnational Approaches to Girlhood Workshop’ held at the University of Toronto, May 25, 2012.
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Lyndsay M.C. Hayhurst
Lyndsay Hayhurst is a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (Canada) and Sport Canada postdoctoral fellow in the Institute of Women's Studies and School of Human Kinetics at the University of Ottawa, Canada. Her research interests include sport for development and peace; gender and development; cultural studies of girlhood; postcolonial feminist theory; global governance; corporate social responsibility and physical cultural studies. Lyndsay's publications have appeared in Third World Quarterly, Sociology of Sport Journal and Progress in Development Studies. Currently, she is conducting research on the Girl Effect campaign and its relationship to corporate-funded girl-focused Aboriginal sport, gender and development programs in Canada and Australia.