Sine Agergaard

The Copenhagen Consensus Conference 2016 : children, youth, and physical activity in schools and during leisure time

From 4 to 7 April 2016, 24 researchers from 8 countries and from a variety of academic disciplines gathered in Snekkersten, Denmark, to reach evidence-based consensus about physical activity in children and youth, that is, individuals between 6 and 18 years. Physical activity is an overarching term that consists of many structured and unstructured forms within school and out-of-school-time contexts, including organised sport, physical education, outdoor recreation, motor skill development programmes, recess, and active transportation such as biking and walking. This consensus statement presents the accord on the effects of physical activity on childrens and youths fitness, health, cognitive functioning, engagement, motivation, psychological well-being and social inclusion, as well as presenting educational and physical activity implementation strategies. The consensus was obtained through an iterative process that began with presentation of the state-of-the art in each domain followed by plenary and group discussions. Ultimately, Consensus Conference participants reached agreement on the 21-item consensus statement.

Politicisation of migrant leisure: a public and civil intervention involving organised sports

Using the perspective of governmentality this article aims to contribute to an understanding of the rationalities of specific political interventions, and the techniques used to monitor the leisure activities of particular target groups. This process of politicization is revealed here through a case study of an intervention that provides sporting activities in holiday periods for migrant children and adolescents living in so-called socially disadvantaged areas (DGI Playground). The analysis highlights the rationality that the leisure time of migrant youth is a potentially dangerous time slot and they must be engaged in organized sports; that is not only healthy but also civilizing and character forming leisure time activities. Techniques of monitoring the intervention are developed in a partnership between public institutions, regional umbrella organizations and local sports clubs leading to a need for employment of welfare professionals. Furthermore, the article illustrates that in the discursive construction of subject positions for the target group, migrant youth tend to become clients and recipients of public services rather than potential members of civil sports clubs. These findings are supported by ethnographic interviews with participants that show how youngsters who took part in DGI Playground were able to reflect the official aim of the programme and relate this to their desire to have fun and hang out with their friends. The article ends with a discussion of the further scope of applying critical theoretical perspectives to studies of migrants’ leisure and sports activities.

Producing mobility through locality and visibility: Developing a transnational perspective on sports labour migration

To date, studies of sports labour migration have afforded little attention to analyses of how individual athletes relate to historical and macro- structural power relations and forces. In this article, we set out to develop a transnational perspective on sports labour migration, focusing particularly on migrants’ achievement and maintenance of mobility as a key constituting factor in migratory movements. We argue that athletic mobility is an on-going process, a commodity that must continuously be achieved. The article provides material from an on-going PhD project concerning migratory routes between African and Scandinavian women’s football, and focuses attention on a case study of Nigerian women footballers’ migration out of their country of origin and into Scandinavian football clubs. The article concludes that, despite the unequal power relations that shape the global trade in athletic talent, sports migrants assert agency and control over important aspects of transnational movement and mobility.

Governing Integration Through Sports

Governing Integration Through Sports This article problematises the increasing involvement of non-state actors (in particular Danish civil sports associations) in the conduct of integration policy. Based on a case study the article describes how the involved public authorities and non-state actors represent the problem (and aim) of enhancing ethnic integration through sports. The concept of assemblage is used to highlight the heterogeneity of the rationalities and resources that merged in the specific project. Further, the techniques and practices of governing the specific project will be in focus and the article discusses how non-state actors come to monitor themselves through new public management.

Understanding women’s professional soccer: the case of Denmark and Sweden

Women’s soccer has developed rapidly over the past 20 years, and the sport has transitioned from being a solely amateur one to a professional sport with work opportunities for women footballers from around the world. The purpose of this study is to explore professionalization processes of Swedish and Danish women’s soccer. This study is designed as a qualitative case study conducting document analysis of the new licence programme implemented by the Swedish and Danish soccer associations in 2012. The article suggests that women’s professional soccer, in a Scandinavian context, is best understood through the theoretical construct of ‘new professionalism’. Professionalism has become a goal in itself and an ideology for women’s soccer in Denmark and Sweden, and as a consequence, women’s soccer is in the process of becoming a regulated and rational business structure in Scandinavia due to the implementation of national licence manuals.

Established – outsider relations in youth football tournaments: an exploration of transnational power figurations between Scandinavian organizers and African teams

This article examines Scandinavian constructions and readings of potential football migrants from the African continent by providing an investigation of the dynamics and narratives surrounding African football teams’ participation in three youth football tournaments. Drawing on Elias and Scotson’s (1965/1994) theory of established-outsider relations, we explore the transnational power relations and processes of inclusion and exclusion in group relationships. The data were collected between July and August 2012, as part of a wider study examining transnational migration and mobility in Scandinavian women’s football. Ethnographic observations were conducted at three Scandinavian youth football tournaments, and interviews were conducted with tournament organizers and representatives from participating women’s clubs/teams. The data suggest that a particular representation of self, on the part of the tournament organizers, as being providers of ‘development’ and gender equity programmes to African teams, is fundamental in maintaining the established-outsider power relations between Scandinavian and African football teams.

Sport as social formation and specialist education: discursive and ritualistic aspects of physical education.

This article is based on ethnographic fieldwork carried out at two Danish sports colleges that aim to educate voluntary leaders and elite coaches respectively. Methodologically, a model of analysis is built through supplementing Foucaults concept ‘orders of discourse’ with Robert Wuthnows studies of not only written and spoken but also ritualistic contributions to discourses. Using this model, the analysis of the formally written purposes and daily words used at the colleges shows two orders of discourse about sport as social formation and sport as specialist education, which are based in historically and ideologically different traditions. Moreover, the analysis shows that the present-day students contribute to the different discourses but also ignore or resist them as active individuals. This makes it relevant to inquire into the participants’ practices and experiences with the help of ethnographic studies of rituals. The analysis of the courses as rituals contributes to our understanding of physical education by pointing at an interesting duality. On the one hand, different traditions (and discourses) are reproduced through the education of leaders and coaches to Danish sports clubs, and on the other hand, both groups of students form social relations and go through a transformative process. To Conclude, concepts such as ‘formative education’ will be suggested to bridge rather than ideologically polarize our understanding of formative and educational potentials of physical education today.

‘The ball and the rhythm in her blood’: Racialised imaginaries and football migration from Nigeria to Scandinavia

This article provides an analysis of how Nigerian women migrants are represented and constructed as racial others by officials in the Scandinavian football clubs that recruit and employ them. Situated against scholarship on race, gender, and sport, within and outside the Scandinavian region, we highlight consistencies in stereotypical representations of black athletes. We use theories of racialisation to draw attention to how ideas about race and gender are mutually imbricated in shaping Scandinavian representations of Nigerian women football migrants. Based on interviews with Scandinavian football club officials, and Nigerian women football migrants, we expose and critique the ways in which Nigerian women’s migration as professionals, and their competencies as athletes, are constantly undermined by racially inscribed representations.

Religious culture as a barrier? A counter-narrative of Danish Muslim girls' participation in sports.

Abstract Political interventions, media coverage and research often refer to the underrepresentation of ethnic minorities, particularly girls and women, participating in physical activity and organised sports. In both public and academic debates, reference is made to the religious culture as a particular barrier to participation in sports among Muslim girls and women. This article aims to provide a counter-narrative by focusing on young Muslim girls who simultaneously practice their religion and sports. The main research question was: How do young Danish Muslim girls align participation in sports with their religious and cultural frames of reference? The study uses a case study approach with interviews of ten 13–17-year-old Danish Muslim girls, as well as explorative observations in two football clubs and interviews with five coaches and club leaders. In further developing an analytical model for interpreting religion as hegemonic, embodied and dynamic cultural phenomena, the analysis points to the diversity through which Muslim girls and women participate and engage in sports. Finally, the article discusses the extent to which counter-narratives may contribute to changing perspectives on so-called hard to reach target groups.

Understanding implementation and change in complex interventions. From single- to multi-methodological research on the promotion of youths’ participation in physical education

Abstract Existing studies on complex interventions aiming to promote youths’ participation in physical education (PE) appear to be predominantly single-methodological. The aim of this article is to examine the benefits and challenges of evaluating an intervention to increase youths’ participation and experiences of social inclusion in the PE context using a multi-method approach integrating quantitative and qualitative approaches. The multi-method approach allowed an integration of the findings with regard to the implementation as well as the effect of the intervention. First of all, standardized questionnaires provided a manipulation check of the delivery of the intervention, while qualitative observations and interviews identified the diversity in pupils’ reactions thereto. Secondly, quantitative findings on the effect of the intervention were related to qualitative findings pointing to ambiguities in the pupils’ observed behaviour and interview responses. Thus, a more complete understanding of the implementation processes and effect of the intervention developed.