Khaleejizing change: Women, sport, and development in the Arabian Gulf

The relationship between sport and development has been the growing focus of social development programming and research. Despite the hundreds of organisations and programs that have emerged over the years under the auspices of Sport for Development and Peace (SDP) and the growth of research into the field, limited progress has been made on developing theoretical frameworks or advancing practical studies regarding their utility. This is especially true in the case of context-based knowledge needed for advancing a broader understanding of the field and its applications.

In the Arabian Gulf, the idea of using sport for advancing women’s development is yet to receive academic attention. In a region where the social realities of women’s experiences are shrouded in misconceptions and the notion of development is framed locally and globally in nuanced ways, it was critical to contextualise the uses of SDP for Gulf women. Using the author’s positionality as a local researcher and an embedded member of the sports sector, this study investigated the role of sport in addressing the developmental needs of women in the region.

A Theory of Change framework informed by a transnational feminist lens formed the methodological strategy of this study. The former provided a structure by which to interrogate the relationship between sport and development through its mechanisms and processes, while the latter allowed for a critical reading of those processes using a paradigm that foregrounds contextual nuances and frames that knowledge within globalised views. The critical-managerial approach of this study provides an important methodological advancement for contextual SDP studies that aim to explore the relationship between sport and development in diverse settings.

Using document analysis, interviews, and focus groups with policymakers, sport organisation members, and SDP participants across Bahrain, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates, the findings indicate the critical role of government and family in supporting any initiative aimed at social development for women in the region. Referred to within this research as a Khaleejized approach, these factors remain influential in SDP programming in the Gulf, integrating the region’s dominant structural forces and utilising the sector’s unique position between sport and development to provide a distinctive sporting experience for participants, spectators, and staff.

The impacts of such programming relate to both sports and social development, with the two sectors intertwining within the SDP setting as a result of the combination of program elements, activities, and experiences offered. The relationship between both sectors within SDP is a nuanced one in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region, whereby increased and alternative opportunities for women in sport contribute to development outcomes across multiple levels of influence. Abstracting the findings into a Khaleejized model for SDP provides a strategy forward for organisations and policymaking bodies to utilise sport for women’s development in the Gulf region, while the model’s theoretical propositions offer insights for future research regarding how to conceptualise alternative visions of SDP. The thesis ends on a note of caution: although wider systems integration in support of the SDP sector is needed, care should be given to preserving SDP’s ethos with respect to women’s development through sport.