Ethical reflexivity in action
Contract researcher strategies and collaborative governance insights from sport for development
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 24230379 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Frank van Eekeren (Utrecht University), Chris Noij (Utrecht University), Gerolf Pikker (Utrecht University) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Pages | 1-16 |
| Publication date | 2026-09-26 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Culture Sport Society (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1461-0981 • E-ISSN: 1743-0445 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/17430437.2026.2729421 |
| OpenAlex | W7214488134 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 55 |
This paper examines how ethical reflexivity can deepen our understanding of contract researcher strategies and collaborative governance in Sport for Development (SFD). Drawing on a critical incident from our role as contract researchers in a Dutch-led SFD program, we explore how ethical tensions emerge from conflicting institutional expectations, personal values, and unequal power relations between actors from the Global North and South. Rather than offering definitive solutions, the study presents ethical reflexivity as a situated practice. Practically, it enables researchers to navigate ambiguity and make sense of tensions as they arise. Epistemologically, it sheds light on the everyday micro-practices that shape collaborative governance. Ethically, it underscores the need for ongoing reflection and accountability in contexts marked by asymmetry and contractual dependency. By foregrounding the moral and political dimensions of research practice, this study contributes to critical debates on power, ethics, and knowledge production in the collaborative governance of SFD.
Accountability · Collaborative governance · contract research · ethical reflexivity · institutional expectations · Knowledge production · power relations · Research ethics · sport for development · Physical Education and Sports Studies · Qualitative Research Methods and Ethics · Tourism, Volunteerism, and Development
Sport for Development
Challenging perspectives
Collaboration in action
Duoethnography
Sport, Gender and Development
A new social movement
Co-production
You’re juicy
Theorizing the political dimension of collaborative governance
How Do Networks Reflect Collaborative Governance? The Case of a Sport Policy Program
The Value of Researcher Reflexivity in the Coproduction of Public Policy
Transformative Paradigm
Sport for decolonization
Power, Politics and “Sport for Development and Peace”
An Integrative Framework for Collaborative Governance
Mundane dynamics
Governance without we. Wicked problems and collaborative governance
Collaborative Governance in Theory and Practice
Considering sport for development and peace through the capabilities approach
Greening Sport for Development and Peace
Positioning Positionality and Reflecting on Reflexivity
The self in the mirror
Blurring Boundaries
Now I see it, now I don't
Negotiating the swamp
Ethics, Reflexivity, and "Ethically Important Moments" in Research
A holistic framework of power to observe constraining and enabling manifestations and outcomes of power within international Sport for Development and Peace partnerships
Governance in sport-for-development
Fear and loathing in Lesotho
Perpetuating the 'lack of evidence' discourse in sport for development
Analyzing Analytic Autoethnography
| Highly cited | No |
|---|