sporting lives and “development”

340 Pages·2016·24.7 MB·English

SPORTING LIVES AND “DEVELOPMENT” AGENDAS:
A critical analysis of sport and ―development‖ nexus in the context of farm
workers of the Western Cape
TARMINDER KAUR

A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of
Doctor Philosophiae in the School of Government, Faculty of Economics and
Management Sciences, University of the Western Cape.

Supervisors: Prof Marion Keim Lees
Prof Andries du Toit

Submitted for Examination: December 2015
Final Submission: March 2016
SPORTING LIVES AND ―DEVELOPMENT‖ AGENDAS:
A critical analysis of sport and ―development‖ nexus in the context of farm
workers of the Western Cape
Tarminder Kaur

KEYWORDS
Sport, Development, Sport for Development and Peace (SDP), Farm workers,
Subaltern, Soccer, Rawsonville, Commercial Agriculture, South African Wine
Industry, Ethnography

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ABSTRACT
This thesis is about the sporting lives of people who work and/or live at the

commercial grape and wine farms of the Western Cape. Collectively referred to as

farm workers, they are identified by the Western Cape Provincial Government as

a priority group in need of ―development‖. Over the past 15 or so years,

proclamations and practices of ―sport for development and peace‖ (SDP) have
emerged as globally recognised phenomena, where sport is promoted as a tool to
achieve a broad range of ―development‖ objectives, including the Millennium
Development Goals. As a research topic, SDP scholars examine the practical and
theoretical usefulness of sport as a tool for addressing a diverse set of social,
health, political and economic issues through education, diplomacy, inclusion, and
awareness programmes. Instead of attending to the questions of whether or how
sport might serve ―development‖ ends, this study offers a critical analysis of the
nexus between sport and ―development‖ (SDN) in the context of farm workers of
the Western Cape.
Informed by James Ferguson‘s analysis of ―development‖ as an ‗anti-politics
machine‘ (1990), I adopt a deconstructionist approach that examines issues
beyond the narrow confines of ―development‖ problems and programmes. As he
argues, ―development‖ continues to serve as a ‗central organising concept‘ to
discuss and assess desired change in social and economic realms, which is evident
in the programmes of farm worker ―development,‖ and how these continue to
retain a place in the policy and political discourses on agrarian transformation in
post-apartheid South Africa. With an appreciation of the Western Cape‘s agrarian
history and politics and how they shape present-day farm labour conditions, I
have critically analysed the discourses and practices of farm worker
―development‖ and SDP in the light of broader structural realities, everyday
sporting lives and the ―development‖ experiences of farm workers. The central
organising question of this thesis is: how do ―development‖ problems and the
solutions sought for in SDP discourses and programmes correspond to the social,
economic and political realities of their subjects?
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Drawing on my ethnographic fieldwork conducted at farmlands in and around
Rawsonville, a small rural town, from April 2012 to May 2013, I illustrate

different and seemingly disconnected frames and positions from which theories of
SDP and farm workers‘ experiences of s port and ―development‖ were observed.
The analysis is organised around three contrasting frames of observation, namely:

1) historical and contemporary discourses and politics of farm worker

―development‖ and SDP programmes and practices, 2) structural arrangements of
competitive and physical infrastructure for official sport, and 3) everyday (official
and unofficial) sporting practices and experiences of the rural working class
people. With a particular attention to continuities and contradictions in historical
and contemporary farm worker ―development‖ discourses and selected SDP case
studies, I demonstrate that while SDP agendas directed at farm workers may serve
divergent and at times conflicting interests, farm workers‘ own agency, initiative
and aspirations do not feature in SDP programmes and broader ―development‖
discourses. The contrasts and counter-narratives presented in discussing these case
studies and stories complicate and contest simplified notions commonly projected
in global SDP discourses and locally specific ―development‖ agendas.
Beyond the confines of sporadic and temporary SDP projects, there was a
vibrant and active world of formal and informal sport among the farm workers of
Rawsonville. By focusing on the everyday sporting lives of athletes, coaches,
managers, organisers and soccer clubs, I paint a picture that reveals the diversity
and inconsistency of experiences and meanings of farm worker as an identity, a
class position and an occupation. Interrogating how farm workers were embedded
within the broader rural sport structures, I describe the complex set of factors that
shaped their experiences of, access to, and participation in, sport. I argue that
while sport was passionately pursued irrespective of direct or corollary
―development‖ benefits, it was unofficial and under-the-radar sport networks and
practices that served as vital spaces of autonomy, initiative and self-realization,
even for those who may not otherwise have had such opportunities.
And while the politically disengaged and enthusiastically embraced qualities
of sport may continue to be among the reasons for its traction in ―development‖
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and peace agendas, these very same qualities allow sport to be usefully employed
as an ethnographic method. Among the formative turns I took in conducting and

presenting my research observations was to implicate myself and invite the reader
into the confusing and complex process  of learning and knowledge production.
By way of conclusion, I argue for refocusing the gaze of research on studying

sport as part of the broader scope of subaltern sociality.

T Kaur
December 2015

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DECLARATION

I declare that ‗Sporting Lives and “Development” Agendas: a critical analysis of
sport and “development” nexus in the co ntext of farm workers of the Western
Cape‘ is my own work, that it has not been submitted before for any degree or

examination in any other university, and that all the sources I have used or quoted
have been indicated and acknowledged as complete references.

Tarminder Kaur
December 2015

Signed:

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The writing of this dissertation has been a profound and humbling journey of
discovery and education. This exercise o f formal acknowledgements feels like a
declaration of my privileges and assets. There are several individuals I would like

to acknowledge who contributed to the project in many meaningful ways. Firstly,

I would like to acknowledge all of my research participants for sharing with me a
piece of their lives. I am grateful for the time, engagement, warmth and all the
different ways in which so many of you helped me make sense of the world in the
following pages.
This research project would have never started without the scholarship I was
awarded by the South African Wine Industry Trust (SAWIT), and I am thankful
for the financial support I received from SAWIT for the first four years. This
gratitude further extends to Prof Marion Keim Lees, my supervisor, who
encouraged me to apply to the University of the Western Cape and for the SAWIT
scholarship to pursue my Doctoral studies with her.
For all the encouragement, guidance and intellectual support, I would like to
express deep appreciation to both of my supervisors, Prof Keim Lees and Prof
Andries du Toit. The arguments, and the ways of thinking, that I developed in this
thesis owe a great deal to Prof du Toit for his critical feedback on, and candid
engagement with, the earlier drafts.
Over the last six years, so many people, departments and institutions, at
different times and in different ways, have had direct and indirect influence on the
product of this thesis. I would like to acknowledge the intellectual community and
friends I have made during this time. Firstly, I would like to acknowledge my
colleagues at my institutional home, the Interdisciplinary Centre of Excellence for
Sport Science and Development (ICESSD): Clemens Ley, Clever Chikwanda,
Lyndon Bouah, Solomon G. Asihel, Maria Rato-Barrio, Christo de Coning, Jose
Cabral, Illhaam Groenwald, Marius Runkel, Marie Biermann and Anita
Fredericks. Thank you for your friendship and professional support over the years.
Secondly, I would like to thank the School of Government for their affiliation and
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support, in particular, Lynette Fester for her administrative support and Leon
Pretorius for advice as a postgraduate coordinator and availing me a listening ear

when most needed. Thirdly, I would like to thank UWC's School of Public Health,
for not only providing the physical office  space, but also for many opportunities to
learn and engage in debates and discussions on aspects of health and its social

determinants. In particular, I would like to thank Uta Lehmann, David Sanders,

Corinne Carolissen, Christina Zarowsky, Lucy Alexander and Thomas Achia.
Fourthly, I would like to acknowledge the staff and students at the Department of
Sport, Exercise and Recreation Science for all their enthusiasm and support in the
many processes that this research had gone through. I would also like to thank the
librarians at the University of the Western Cape, who have been calling me a
doctor since the start of this project, as stayed till the close of the library in the
early years of this research.
Beyond these institutional boundaries, I had the privilege of engaging with
many engaged thinkers and intellectuals, who, in many different ways, impacted
and continue to impact the way I process my thinking, research and arguments.
Firstly, I would like to thank Roger Levermore, Simon Darnell, Eve Braidwood,
Patricia Struthers, Femke Brandt, Åsa Eriksson, Rupinderdeep Kaur Sohi, Rosa
Williams, Gavin Williams, Rory Pilossof and Christian Williams for reading and
helpful feedback on the early drafts of some of my chapters. Secondly, I would
like to acknowledge Ciraj Rassool, Marcus Solomon, Noëleen Murray, Shirley
Brooks, Robert Gordon, Albert Grundlingh, Jade Gibson, Joseph Maguire and
Brian Roftopoulos, for taking interest in my research and pointing me towards
some useful directions. I would also like to extend my gratitude to the staff at the
Centre of Rural Legal Studies (CRLS), Sharron Marco-Thyse, Carinus Lemmar
and Willie Hess, who does not feature in this thesis, but they played an important
role in helping me make sense of the South African agrarian and sporting worlds,
but also for their generous friendship and long discussions.
I benefited greatly from regular participation in reading group discussions,
which created a space to experiment with and think through many of my ideas and
arguments. So, I thank: Creesen Naicker, Marius Runkel, Roger Levermore,
Simon Darnell, Lyndsay Hayhurst, Marie Biermann, Simona Safarikova, Gerard
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Akindes, Shawn Forde, Rob Millington, David Marchesseault, Mario Barrio-
Ratto, Chizuko Sato, Femke Brandt, Åsa Eriksson, Ronald Wesso and Jenny

Johnson, for your keen and enthusiastic engagement in many debates and
discussions over the years.  
This research project has dominated  almost every aspect of my life for the past
six years. Life as a scholar would have been much harder without the support of a

very understanding family and friends in many places. This thesis is, in so many
ways, a reflection of your love, values, support and friendship. While there are
many ways I get a chance to show appreciation to my family and friends, there are
two people who deserve a special mention here: Trish and Piotr, your love and
friendship gave me a kind of grounding, a sense of home away from home, in
Cape Town. Thank you.
And finally, I would like to thank the proof-reader of the final version of this
thesis, for not only proofing, but for all the wonderful things he brings to my life.
Without you, this thesis would have been very different, and my life incomplete.
Thank you for choosing to be with me and for all the many ways in which you
inspire me to be compassionate in everything I do.

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CONTENTS
KEYWORDS .......................................................................................................... ii
ABSTRACT ........................................... ................................................................ iii
DECLARATION ................................................................................................... vi

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................. vii

CONTENTS ............................................................................................................ x

LIST OF ABBRIVATIONS AND ACRONYMS ............................................... xiv
LIST OF MAPS AND TABLES ........................................................................ xvii
MAP A ............................................................................................................ xviii
MAP B ............................................................................................................. xix
1. FARM WORKERS, SPORT AND ―DEVELOPMENT‖: an introduction .................. 1
1.1. FIELDS OF SPORT, “DEVELOPMENT” AND AGRICULTURE .................... 5
1.1.1. Introduction to Fields of the Cape Winelands .............................. 5
1.1.2. “Lacks” and “Needs” of Sport ....................................................... 7
1.2. RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND METHODOLOGY ...................................... 11
1.2.1. Research Questions and Objectives ............................................. 12
1.2.2. Ethnographic Fieldwork ............................................................... 13
1.2.3. Representational and Ethical Considerations ............................ 15
1.2.4. Notes on Nomenclature ................................................................. 18
1.3. THE LITERATURE................................................................................... 20
1.3.1. “Development” .............................................................................. 21
1.3.2. Sport and SDP ............................................................................... 27
1.4. THESIS OUTLINE .................................................................................... 30
2. SPORT AND CRITICAL SELF-REFLECTIONS: ethnographic methods and
subjects ................................................................................................................. 32
2.1. PHILOSOPHY UNDERPINNING METHODOLOGY ..................................... 33
2.1.1. Selectivity and Self-Reflectivity ................................................... 34
2.1.2. Empirical Research Questions ..................................................... 37
2.2. CONDUCTING FIELDWORK: SELECTIVITY ............................................ 40
2.2.1. Ethnographic Fieldwork Strategies ............................................. 44
2.2.2. Research Participants ................................................................... 46
2.2.3. Formal Interviewing ..................................................................... 48
2.2.4. Records and Recording Techniques ............................................ 51
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