Can Sport Help Address Civil Society's 'Brexistential Crisis'?

The EU referendum fallout has become a terrifying and bewildering spectre. Economic instability, political tumult and a resurgence in the most convulsive wave of nationalism since the nadir of the 1980's makes the current climate feel like a bad dream. In a reverse of the healing tolerance that our society experienced between the 90's and the 00's, the anti-immigration stance adopted by some in the Leave campaign and some of their supporters threatens to not just destabilise communities, but shake them to their very core.

Without wishing to present a polemic, Britain now faces a period of sociopolitical chaos - the end of which is contingent on the country's ability to negotiate from a position of weakness, rather than one of power. But there is a glimmer of hope: while many young people have been recent recipients of what appears as legitimised bigotry, those young people who did vote in the referendum – the so-called 'millennials' - overwhelmingly voted in favour of remaining with their European brethren. While just under half the UK will have to swallow the bitter pill of leaving the EU, the 73% of young people in favour of staying must shoulder a connective Sisyphean responsibility: to hold divided (and divisive) communities together.

Which leads me onto the subject of 'social capital' - a term steeped in the implications and traditions of 'connectivity' or pro-social networks. One prominent social capital scholar is the American Robert D. Putnam; a political scientist by trade, Putnam writes extensively on how disparate communities can bridge divisions, heal dislocated groups, and break down barriers of stigmatisation. Among Putnam's various cures for society's ills is the use of sport (as well as arts and culture).

At this point, it is important to note a Putnamian distinction: not all connections between people are the same: there is 'bridging' social capital and there is 'bonding' capital; and we need both for healthy, prosperous communities. Too much bonding social capital – connections between homogenous individuals - can create hermetically sealed communities; such as we are seeing in Britain at present. Bridging social capital – connections between heterogeneous individuals – is harder to create, but is increasingly important for the future of our young people. It is they, after all, who will have to live with the Brexit decision the longest).

So how can we create 'healthy' social capital? School-based extra curricular activities are an important vehicle for building social capital in, and between, young people. In Britain, school sport has a history of being grossly underfunded and mishandled. However, there is a growing evidence base that demonstrates sports participation during adolescence increases a young person's propensity to participate in community life in the short-, medium- and long-term.

Sport is a prominent domain for building 'bridging' social capital. It an almost idiosyncratic quality to create environments that are non-verbal, non-judgmental and non-discriminate, thus creating a level playing field for those who choose to participate. Moreover, young people often engage in sporting activities without regard to social capital – rather, they just enjoying consuming them.

I am no snake-oil salesman, peddling social capital-rich sport programmes as a panacea for an untrammelled nation. The solution is not straightforward: sport, after all, still retains elements of exclusivity, particularly in the sports clubs where membership is negotiated either via cronyism or secret handshakes. Moreover, youth sport participation can be difficult to sustain. This problem, Putnam suggests, can be addressed through mandatory funding or subsidisation at the youth and grass roots level.

Holistic thinking needs to occur in order to create a more fluid and joined up strategy. For example, fostering social capital through sport can be elevated to a school objective, achieved through various means, such as allowing school sports/leisure facilities to be used free of charge by the local community. Public libraries for one have shown the way on how to utilise public resources for civic renewal; stories from outside of the UK have recounted how libraries have 'refocused' from a locus of information to a centre for community discourse, encounters and ideas.

Whatever happens in the coming years, the repercussive effect of a campaign fuelled by xenophobic divisiveness threatens to derail local communities. We are in the midst of a 'Brexistential crisis' and need a way forward. Perhaps the question we should be reflecting on is how this crisis can be turned into a drive for building new forms of social and cultural life. Politicians and civilians alike should recognise how we are complicit in the current furore, but also how we can solve the problem of civil renewal. Creating as many opportunities for activities such as sport to be mobilised may not be the answer, but it is a pretty good place to start.

Written by Breandan King - Impact and Evaluation Manager at Greenhouse Sports, writing here in a personal capacity. We welcome contributions on a wide variety of subjects to stimulate debate. The views of the author do not necessarily reflect the views of the Sports Think Tank.