IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/socres/v18y2013i2p192-203.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Girls as the ‘New’ Agents of Social Change? Exploring the ‘Girl Effect’ through Sport, Gender and Development Programs in Uganda

Author

Listed:
  • Lyndsay M.C. Hayhurst

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore how girls in Eastern Uganda experienced a corporate-funded sport, gender and development (SGD) martial arts program. This study used 19 semi-structured in-depth interviews, participant observation and document analysis. Results revealed that while the martial arts program increased the young women's confidence, challenged gender norms, augmented their social networks, improved their physical fitness and was useful for providing them with employment opportunities, the program also attempted to ‘govern’ their sexuality and sexual relations with boys and men by promoting individual avoidance and encouraging the use of self-defense strategies against potential abusers. To conclude, I argue that girl-focused SGD programs such as the one studied here impel young women to be the agents of social change and to cope with the potential resistance (e.g., from some of their family and community members) to their participation in SGD programs by building their self-esteem, confidence and self-responsibility. Despite this – and as the ‘new agents of social change’ – these young women still must navigate the structural inequalities that tend to marginalize their lives in the first place.

Suggested Citation

  • Lyndsay M.C. Hayhurst, 2013. "Girls as the ‘New’ Agents of Social Change? Exploring the ‘Girl Effect’ through Sport, Gender and Development Programs in Uganda," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 18(2), pages 192-203, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:socres:v:18:y:2013:i:2:p:192-203
    DOI: 10.5153/sro.2959
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.5153/sro.2959
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.5153/sro.2959?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lyndsay Hayhurst, 2011. "Corporatising Sport, Gender and Development: postcolonial IR feminisms, transnational private governance and global corporate social engagement," Third World Quarterly, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(3), pages 531-549.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Arno Kourula & Guillaume Delalieux, 2016. "The Micro-level Foundations and Dynamics of Political Corporate Social Responsibility: Hegemony and Passive Revolution through Civil Society," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 135(4), pages 769-785, June.
    2. Charlotte M. Karam & Dima Jamali, 2017. "A Cross-Cultural and Feminist Perspective on CSR in Developing Countries: Uncovering Latent Power Dynamics," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 142(3), pages 461-477, May.
    3. Nicolien van Luijk, 2018. "The International Olympic Committee: A United Nations Permanent Observer of post-politics?," International Area Studies Review, Center for International Area Studies, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, vol. 21(2), pages 134-149, June.
    4. Yong-Yee Chong & Emma Sherry & Sophia Harith & Selina Khoo, 2022. "Sport for Development Programs Contributing to Sustainable Development Goal 5: A Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-16, June.
    5. Farzana Shain, 2013. "‘The Girl Effect’: Exploring Narratives of Gendered Impacts and Opportunities in Neoliberal Development," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 18(2), pages 181-191, May.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:socres:v:18:y:2013:i:2:p:192-203. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.