|  | Feature: “Recreation Sport and Social Change in Sustainable Community Development” | No.55 January 2009 |
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Introduction Recreation Sport and Social Change in Sustainable Community Development Anneliese Goslin & Darlene Kluka |
Change is an evident feature of social reality. In sociology texts, it is rightly stated that change comes in many forms and rates and is a pervasive phenomenon in social life. Because change is so embedded in societal fabric, definitions on social change are abundant in scholarly texts. Analysing definitions on social change emphasises a number of key elements. Social change implies that people serve as catalysts to initiate and advocate change, plan implementation of mechanisms to sustain change, develop processes, modify and transform social structures, behaviours, attitudes and policies, reciprocate influence on social units and shift paradigms in personal values, beliefs, attitudes and opinions that affect societies over time. Social change is not a mono-causal event, but rather a multi-causal process consisting of triggers of social change, change processes and mechanisms with intentional outcomes and consequences of social change. The conveying power of sport and recreation as vehicles to create social space for all is well established by scholars and social movements. At the continental level, the Commission of the European Communities’ White Paper on Sport acknowledged sport and recreation as areas of human activity that have enormous potential for social inclusion, integration and equal opportunity. Fundamentally, sport and recreation aim to address causes of social change, whether humanly constructed or natural through relevant intervention processes. Sport and recreation as vehicles for social change can cut across borders that divide societies and make them compelling tools for social advocacy, provided their potential is harnessed through sustainable interventions, processes and procedures. Social change necessitates an understanding of the inter-relatedness between triggers of change in the broader social environment and what organisations and individuals need to do to translate intention into sustained action and impact. This Bulletin feature investigates the complex and dynamic process of social change through diverse sport and recreation contributions. An overview involving the scope of community development through sport and recreation sets the scene for other more specific interventions. As sport and recreation become increasingly part of humanitarian and development work, as well as part of the corporate social responsibility practices for some private sector actors, interested parties are anxious to explore the potential as well as the limitations of sport and recreation in their initiatives. Social inclusion is a topical issue in social change. In post-disaster scenarios, where sport and play are used as “interventions” to address social challenges, the issue of how to include children and adults with disabilities in sport or recreation activities can be quite challenging for sport leaders and coaches. The contribution “Applying the Inclusion Spectrum and STEP in Post-disaster or sport for development scenarios” presents a model for inclusion in physical activity and sport. The contribution on Coach Education for athletes with disabilities complements the Inclusion Spectrum and focuses on persons with special needs. The status of women in society has been at the centre of conversations for decades. In their article “Challenges and opportunities for Social Change in Sport: The Case of Women under the Socio-Economic conditions of South Africa”, the authors debate the issue of social change in a specific country and highlight transformational challenges facing women in the current South African sport context. The article focusing on dance as an activity for senior populations reinforces social inclusion as an underlying principle of social change and provides another perspective from a different country (USA). Sustainability of social change presents fundamental challenges to institutions and individuals alike. The contribution on the “Issue of Sustainability in Social Change” presents a framework to manage its sustainability. Social change through sport and recreation is often championed by individuals dedicated to the cause. Two of the contributions in this feature provide individual reflections on the authors’ involvement in processes of social change through sport and recreation. Sport, Recreation and Social Change represents the views of a student who attended the 2008 ICSSPE Workshop on Post-Disaster Intervention in Germany. The paper on Muslim Women in Sport: A Researcher’s Journey to understanding ‘Embodied Faith’ shares a researcher’s experience-learning to understanding “Embodied Faith” in the context of Muslim Women in sport. The motivation for this paper is to share the concept of embodied faith as significant in constructing a framework for shared understanding of life experiences of believers. The role of social change agents cannot be over-emphasised. They guide and direct processes of social change toward desired outcomes. The last paper in this feature presents an educational perspective on sport, recreation and social change by describing a curriculum that is appropriate for coursework of undergraduate Sport and Recreation Scientists relating to sport and recreation as vehicles for social change. Contact Darlene A. Kluka, Ph. D., D Phil Department of Sport and Exercise Sciences Barry University, Miami Shores, Florida – USA Extraordinary Professor, University of Pretoria, South Africa Email: dkluka@mail.barry.edu Anneliese Goslin, D Phil, MBA Department of Biokinetics, Sport and Leisure Sciences University of Pretoria Pretoria, South Africa Visiting Professor, Barry University, Miami Shores, Florida, USA Email: goslin@sport.up.ac.za http://www.icsspe.org/portal/index.php?w=1&z=5 Introduction Recreation Sport and Social Change in Sustainable Community Development Anneliese Goslin & Darlene Kluka