Becoming an Occupation? A Research Agenda Into the Professionalization of the Sport for Development and Peace Sector

Sport for development refers to the use of sport and physical activity in pursuit of social good, focused on individual, community, and international development outcomes (e.g., gender equality, conflict resolution, HIV/AIDS education). In recent years, sport for development has progressed from a loose amalgam or “movement” of activists and organizations (see Kidd, 2008) to a recognized component of the international development landscape, and eventually to its own relatively institutionalized sector comprised of hundreds of organizations operating worldwide (Darnell et al., 2019). In its institutionalized form, sport for development is regularly referred to as the Sport for Development and Peace (SDP) sector. While institutionalization has been defined in varying ways by scholars (e.g., Berger & Luckmann, 1967; Meyer & Rowan, 1977), we adopt the overarching definition developed by Scott (1987) in their review of the field: