Zurich Open Repository and Archive University of Zurich Main Library Strickhofstrasse 39 CH-8057 Zurich www.zora.uzh.ch Year: 2020 Sport as a Bridge-Building Activity and a Tool to Promote Peace in Divided Societies – A Philosophical Discourse towards a New Theoretical Framework Grünenfelder, Ran Posted at the Zurich Open Repository and Archive, University of Zurich ZORA URL: https://doi.org/10.5167/uzh-187357 Dissertation Published Version Originally published at: Grünenfelder, Ran. Sport as a Bridge-Building Activity and a Tool to Promote Peace in Divided Societies – A Philosophical Discourse towards a New Theoretical Framework. 2020, University of Zurich, Faculty of Arts. SPORT AS A BRIDGE-BUILDING ACTIVITY AND A TOOL TO PROMOTE PEACE IN DIVIDED SOCIETIES A PHILOSOPHICAL DISCOURSE TOWARDS A NEW THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK Thesis presented to the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences of the University of Zurich for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy By Ran Grünenfelder Accepted in the spring semester 2020 on the recommendation of the doctoral committee composed of Prof. Dr. Francis Cheneval Prof. Dr. Siegfried Nagel Zurich, 2020 ACKNOWLEDGMENT First and foremost, I would like to thank my two supervisors, Prof. Dr. Francis Cheneval (University of Zurich) and Prof. Dr. Siegfried Nagel (University of Bern). Many thanks for the critical reflection, support and accompaniment throughout the entire duration of my dissertation. I would also like to thank all the experts who have agreed to participate in my research, answer my questions and share their knowledge with me. Special thanks must go to Dr. Nico Schulenkorf, whose inspiring personality gave me an invaluable boost of motivation to successfully complete this dissertation. My thanks also go to the peacebuilding organizations and peacemakers around the world who took the time to participate in my online survey. Of course, I was also able to count on support in my personal environment. My thanks go to my uncle Allan Gilbert, my sister Dana Grünenfelder, Jean-Luc Rasson, Andreas Schädel and David Zumbach, who helped me with their critical reflections to rethink my dissertation and bring it to an end. My biggest thanks go to my parents Reto and Shoshana Grünenfelder as well as to my wife Simone Wetzstein! They have always supported and encouraged me in my project and supported me during the four years of my PhD studies. ii PREAMBLE «You don’t wait for peace in order to use sport for peace. You can use sport to achieve peace.» Shimon Peres, Athens Roundtable on Sport for Development and Peace, 2004 Sport and peacebuilding – Is a topic that has always inspired me and has been a central theme in my life. My passion and interest in this topic has led me to write this dissertation. During my sporting career as a judoka, I have always been fascinated by the fact that people from different backgrounds train together and respect each other. The fact that there was always a welcoming culture among athletes and coaches from all over the world, made a great impact on me. Most of the time I had the feeling that armed conflicts and political tensions between or within nations would hardly find their way into the sporting environment or our daily training routine. At the same time, however, this positive and peaceful impression of the sporting environment has repeatedly been disrupted by events such as outbreaks of violence, nationalism and racism in soccer. Accordingly, I repeatedly asked myself how much of a suitable tool sport might be for a peacebuilding process and how it could be applied in the best way. In other words, I was faced with the mystery of how the positive basic impression of sport, which I have internalized through my Judo career, could be positively integrated into peacebuilding activities, taking into account the possible negative manifestations of sport. I developed a large part of this research project during a stay abroad in New York. During this time, daily I was wondering about how sport could be used as a bridge-building activity and as a tool to promote peace. But bridge-building was not a talked about issue in the USA. On the contrary, people were confronted with the «construction of walls». For this reason, I have always wondered whether sport can play a role at all in the context of political actions and decisions. The answer to that question is yes. In line with the bottom-up strategy of peacebuilding, I believe that peacebuilding must take place on a small scale, i.e. among the individuals themselves. In other words, exactly where sport is practiced all over the world. Furthermore, I am convinced that sport as a game and as a social interaction, in which people agree on common rules, can in one way or another be used positively for peacebuilding. iii ABSTRACT This dissertation examines the extent to which sport can be used as an effective tool to promote peace in divided post-conflict societies. In this context, the research shows the role that sport can play in building sustainable peace in divided societies as well as the key factors that need to be considered for sport to be an effective peacebuilding tool. Furthermore, it will explore the potential of sport to bring people from opposing societal groups together for common goals. The main objective of this thesis is to develop a new theoretical framework in the form of an impact model. To achieve this, the work will focus on answering the research question by applying the grounded theory research paradigm. Accordingly, the data collection is firstly carried out by an in-depth literature review that encompasses all relevant components. The concepts of peace, ethnic conflicts, peacebuilding and sport are the key components that are being examined for the development of the new theoretical framework. In a further step, all the theoretical (partial) components examined in detail are brought together. In particular, the identification of overlaps, opportunities and risks between the concept of sport and the concepts that must be considered for peacebuilding are pointed out. The knowledge gained in this way is ultimately incorporated into a new theoretical framework as well as an impact model. In the course of developing the new model, it is shown that several conditions have to be fulfilled in order for sport to be considered at all as a tool to promote peace. The six central aspects to be considered are: (1) the right timing, (2) ensuring accessible locations with sport infrastructures, (3) guaranteeing participation opportunities, (4) working towards a certain mindset and orientation, (5) creating a sense of belonging, as well as (6) working on relationships. In addition, the impact model developed shows that the implementation of a «Peace Park» would, among other things, create a place of encounter that would also offer a platform for social interactions, where social capital would develop accordingly. In this logic of processes and effects, the desired goal of peaceful coexistence can be expected. In addition, this thesis focuses on a theory testing part that provides further knowledge about the newly developed theoretical framework and its impact model. In particular, this testing provides additional insights to adapt and improve the impact model. In order to test, as well as to adjust and underpin the newly developed theoretical framework, a qualitative research approach is applied within this thesis. In other words, the second round of data collection takes iv place through semi-structured in-depth interviews with selected experts and an online survey with practitioners from the field. The results of these qualitative research methods largely support the impact model developed. According to experts and practitioners, sport seems to be in a position to make a positive contribution to peacebuilding processes. At the same time, however, it also becomes clear that sport is associated with a number of risks. The interaction between positive contributions and existing risks means that the expected contribution must not be overestimated and must be relativized accordingly. Therefore, those elements which were either underestimated, overestimated or even hidden in the development of the initial theoretical framework and impact model are adjusted in a new impact model 2.0. The adjustment encompasses, among other things, (1) the inclusion of a strategic orientation of peacebuilding interventions, (2) the relativization of the infrastructure of the peace park, (3) the importance of external instructions, (4) the transmission of the «right» values, as well as (5) the relativization that crosscutting identities can be established. This dissertation offers three valuable contributions to the fundamental knowledge of how and in what form sport can be used as an effective instrument of peacebuilding. Firstly, an important contribution of this research is the fundamental examination of the potential impact of sport in the field of peacebuilding. A second important contribution is the identification of stress ratios that may occur in the context of peace promotion through sport. A third contribution is the development of a theoretical framework which, on the basis of a modular structure, illustrates the potential use of sport. v TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE ACKNOWLEDGMENT .......................................................................................................... ii PREAMBLE ............................................................................................................................ iii ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................