The Integrative Power of Sport: Imagined and Real Effects of Sport Events on Multicultural Integration

Despite a lack of supporting empirical evidence, the belief that sport participation can be used to address a wide range of social problems remains popular. In this study we explored ways in which the social-integration value of sport participation was constructed by participants in an Amsterdam soccer tournament created to enhance integration. We used a critical discourse analytical perspective to analyze survey, interview, and ethnographic data. We found that the construction of the socially integrative values of this event created a space in which participants could construct its effects to reflect their own interests. The resulting practices seemed to do little to challenge problematic dominant discourses and social relations.