Sport, consciousness, and epistemic justice: a critical model for decolonising sport-for-development in the Global South

This article introduces the sport consciousness model (SCM), a critical and decolonial framework for rethinking the role of sport in social transformation across the Global South. Rooted in Freirean pedagogy, Southern epistemologies, and situated grassroots praxis, the SCM comprises three interrelated phases: pre-consciousness (contextual diagnosis), critical intervention (sport as dialogical pedagogy), and resilient self-management (collective autonomy). In contrast to dominant sport-for-development (SfD) models that prioritise technocratic metrics and standardised interventions, the SCM emphasises epistemic justice, historical memory and the political agency of communities. Drawing from grassroots experiences and critical theory, this model offers a ­praxis-oriented alternative that bridges reflection and action while resisting the instrumentalisation of sport. An early empirical antecedent in a Maya K'iche' community in Totonicapán, Guatemala, helped shape its core principles, demonstrating how culturally resonant sport practices can strengthen identity, inclusion and collective agency. Rather than prescribing universal formulas, the SCM is offered as a living, adaptable tool rooted in territories, memories and struggles. It aims to ­contribute to the decolonisation of sport-based development by positioning Southern communities not as passive recipients, but as co-­authors of theory, pedagogy and transformation.