Narrowing the Gap through Sport, Education and Social Capital?

First paragraph: In addressing the promise and possibilities of sport, education and social capital this chapter begins by making a number of introductory remarks. First the notion that a relationship between sport and education may contribute to impacting upon people’s life chances may be unfamiliar to some. At the heart of this approach is the simple recognition that individuals, groups and even nations located or born into different circumstances face different chances of enjoying desirable outcomes and differential life chances. In the UK one in five children is still growing up in poverty and young people from different backgrounds continue to have unequal chances of enjoying good health, living in a secure environment or doing well at school. More than 11 million live in poverty. One of the most intransigent aspects of twenty-first century welfare reforms in Britain is that the poorest 15 per cent cannot afford to put cash aside to save for retirement- because they lack capital either in terms of savings or real estate (Rutherford and Shah, 2006:11). Africa, the world’s second largest continent, at the beginning of the 21st Century contained 18 0f the top 20 countries worldwide with the highest infant mortality rate. Sixteen African countries are in the top 20 poorest in the world, with 70% of Africa’s population surviving on less than $2 a day (Jarvie, 2007: 24). The first point then is that a gap exists both within countries and between countries in terms of life chances, the reasons for this gap are complex, differentiated, relational and in many cases unjust. Despite almost a decade of progressive policies in the UK the gap in life chances between disadvantaged children and their peers has failed to narrow significantly since 1997 (Fabian Society, 2006: xiv)

The promise and possibilities of running in and out of Africa: Survey Results of Top East African Women Runners

First paragraph of introduction: In addressing the promise and possibilities of running in and out of Africa this contribution begins by making a number of introductory remarks. First, that while it draws evidence from specific parts of Africa, notably Kenya and Ethiopia, many of the themes in this chapter could relate to other parts of Africa in the 21st century. With a population of about 690 million people living in 53 countries and one disputed territory, covering a total area of 11.7million square miles, Africa is the world’s second- largest continent (Meredith, 2005). The Sahara covers 3.3 million square miles, almost 25 per cent of land mass. Cairo is the biggest city in Africa, home to 9.2 million people. Sudan is the largest country covering 968,000 square miles but the most populated country in Africa is Nigeria, which, with more than 125 million people, is also the tenth most populated country in the world. Liberia has not only the highest unemployment rate in Africa (85%) but the highest in the world. Angola has the highest infant mortality rate, 192.5 deaths per 1,000 live births, while 18 of the top 20 countries world-wide with the highest infant mortality rates are in Africa. The richest country in Africa per capita is Mauritius, with US$11,400 of GDP per head. Somalia and Niger are amongst the world’s poorest countries with Somalia, the second poorest in the world, at$500 of GDP per capita. Sixteen African countries are in the top 20 poorest in the world, with 70% of Africa’s population surviving on less than $2 a day. To put this in some comparative context, for the season 2003-4 the wage and transfer bill of the four English football divisions stood at £1,049billion, a figure which eclipses the gross domestic product of some small African nations such as Lesotho and Mauritania, and could wipe out most of the debt of many countries both within and outside of Africa. The first point then is that the relational position of Africa in the world and the relations that make up Africa itself are complex, and uneven in the same way that the social and economic resources that flow in and out of parts of Africa are also complex, uneven, differentiated and in some cases unjust

Highland Games, Ancient Sporting Traditions and Social Capital in Modern International Communities

The article draws upon the history and contemporary relevance of the Scottish Highland Games in order to explain the relevance of ancient sporting traditions within to-days world. The article is divided around four themes: 1) A discussion of global sport and the place of sport within anti-globalisation movements; 2) A history of the Scottish Highland Games; 3) The contemporary social, cultural and economic significance of Highland Games and ancient sporting traditions, and finally; 4) A critique of global sport which involves a defence of the value of ancient sporting traditions in developing social capital. The article concludes by suggesting that the local, traditional and at times international is the natural defence against both global and or American cultural and economic forces of the day