Spaaij, Ramon ORCID: 0000-0002-1260-3111 (2013) Sport, social cohesion and community building: managing the nexus. In: Managing Social Issues: A Public Values Perspective. Leisink, Peter, Boselie, Paul, van Bottenburg, Maarten and Hosking, Dian Marie, eds. Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, UK, pp. 107-125.

Abstract

Public policy actors draw attention to, and invest in, sport as a policy tool that can be used to strengthen public values such as social cohesion, community-building and civic participation. Sport is discursively positioned as a cure for pressing social issues such as the perceived rupture of the social bond and the ‘decline of citizenship’ (Jacobson 1996) that is associated with transnational migration and cultural and social diversity (Institute of Community Cohesion 2007; see also Vermeulen, this volume). A major focus of this policy discourse has been to promote active citizenship and engage ‘marginalized’ population groups with the purpose of enhancing or maintaining a socially inclusive and cohesive society.

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