'Intergalactic' Resistance Studies Conference

Individual presentation

Grassroots sports group participation as everyday non-violent resistance

Louise Brown
Coventry University
Sport is used politically as a tool to gain power by both the oppressors and the oppressed. Authoritarian states host mega-events to gain global legitimacy and distract from human rights violations while oppressed groups use the stadium as a platform to challenge state violence with chants and banners. However, when public acts of protest become dangerous, everyday acts of resistance offer accessible ways to assert human rights. This presentation explores how the everyday experience of being a member of a grassroots sports group contributes to non-violent resistance in situations of oppression. More specifically it looks at how the experience of being a member of a Palestinian cycling group enhances the opportunities to express identity and affirm human rights thus contesting Israeli authorities’ dehumanising strategies, human rights abuses and ethnic cleansing. The findings draw my work as an activist and my academic research. In 2018, I spent one week cycling 700km along the separation barrier in the Occupied West Bank to highlight injustices in Palestine in the European press and on social media. During the ride I interviewed cyclists and communities living close to the separation barrier and observed the everyday practice of cycling from within the group. In 2023 I conducted four in-depth interviews with Palestinian cyclists to gain an understanding of the relationship between Palestinian sumud, the culturally embedded concept of resistance, resilience and steadfastness, and their experience in the cycling group. An analysis of the interviews and my cycle ride observations suggest that community-led grassroots sports initiatives offer opportunities to enhance opportunities for everyday acts of non-violent resistance thus contributing to redressing power dynamics and moving towards sustainable peacebuilding. The study contributes an understanding of sport’s role in community-led peacebuilding initiatives during situations of military occupation. It builds on the growing body of work on everyday acts of non-violent resistance as an accessible, relatively low risk way for civil society to redress power asymmetries.
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