On 7th April 2022, I contributed to the following event:
A huge thank you to Imanol and Gavin for the opportunity to contribute. My 8 minute talk was badged as:
Disability and sports diplomacy
“Underpinned by previous experiences and ongoing research around Japan, Dr Postlethwaite will use Japan’s Sport for Tomorrow initiative to explore and illustrate opportunities to make sports diplomacy inclusive of para-sport”
During the 8 minute talk, I mentioned a number of sites and links, plus thank yous. This blog post is a summary of the talk and all of the references. Firstly, this presentation has been made possible due to a number of generous people and organisations, notably a huge thank you to SOAS University of London Japan Research Centre, the University of Worcester, Toin University of Yokohama and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. For people interested in gaining funding to research or travel to Japan then do check out the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science – https://www.jsps.go.jp/english/ (London office – https://www.jsps.org/) or the Japan Foundation – https://www.jpf.org.uk/ or opportunities through the Japan Society (UK) – https://www.japansociety.org.uk/ …
All images/quotes attributed to sources throughout my slides, most of points are taken evidence on the Sport for Tomorrow initiative: https://www.sport4tomorrow.jpnsport.go.jp/
Links and citations from the above slides:
- Beacom, Aaron, and Ian Brittain – 2016 – “Public diplomacy and the International Paralympic Committee: Reconciling the roles of disability advocate and sports regulator.” Diplomacy & Statecraft – https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09592296.2016.1169795
- Olympic World Library “Zoom In – Paralympic Games” – https://library.olympics.com/default/paralympic-games.aspx
- Frost, Dennis – 2021 – More Than Medals, A history of the Paralympics and disability sports in postwar Japan – https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501753084/more-than-medals/
- Guthrie-Shimizu, Sayuri – 2013 – “Japan’s sports diplomacy in the early post-Second World War years.” International Area Studies Review – https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2233865913504866
- Rofe, J. Simon, and Verity Postlethwaite – 2021 – “Scholarship and Sports Diplomacy: the Cases of Japan and the United Kingdom – https://hartpury.pure.elsevier.com/en/publications/scholarship-and-sports-diplomacy-the-cases-of-japan-and-the-unite
- Degun, Tom – 2013 – “Tokyo 2020 takes Candidature file in IPC headquarters in Bonn” Inside the Games – https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1012371/tokyo-2020-takes-candidature-file-to-ipc-headquarters-in-bonn
- The Nippon Foundation – Parasports Support Center – https://www.parasapo.tokyo/en/
- Examples from the Sport for Tomorrow programme:
- Japan Sports Agency Commissioned Project: International Promotion of Paralympics Teaching Material I’mPOSSIBLE – https://www.sport4tomorrow.jpnsport.go.jp/20190510-2-2/
- 【Brazil】International Exchange at the 2nd International Synchronized Swimming Symposium for Persons with Disabilities – https://www.sport4tomorrow.jpnsport.go.jp/20160902-0904-2/
- 【India】Japan Sport Agency Commissioned Project: Collaborative Programme by Japan Sports Council (JSC)- Japan Rugby Football Union (JRFU) Wheelchair Rugby International Contribution Project – https://www.sport4tomorrow.jpnsport.go.jp/20200228_0303-2/
- 【Nepal】Sports Exchange Program for Persons with Impairments – https://www.sport4tomorrow.jpnsport.go.jp/20180920-1-2/
- 【Zimbabwe】Project for the Promotion of Sports for People with Disabilities in Zimbabwe [Flying Disc Workshop] – https://www.sport4tomorrow.jpnsport.go.jp/%e3%80%90zimbabwe%e3%80%91organizing-committee-for-promotion-of-sports-for-the-disabled-in-zimbabwe/
- SOAS Japan Research Centre – Sport Symposia Series – https://www.soas.ac.uk/jrc/events/jrc-sport-symposia-series/
I will be developing this research in the coming months at a series of events, including the following events at the University of Edinburgh, University of Birmingham and Leeds Beckett University:
Sports diplomacy from PyeongChang 2018 to Gangwon 2024 – https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/sports-diplomacy-from-pyeongchang-2018-to-gangwon-2024-registration-295522564947
The Commonwealth Games: A Roundtable Discussion – https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/schools/historycultures/departments/history/events/2022/commonwealth-games-roundtable.aspx
SPORT AND SOCIAL JUSTICE: IF NOT NOW, WHEN? – https://www.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/blogs/carnegie-xchange/2022/03/sport-and-social-justice-if-not-now-when/
This research builds on and brings together a number of publications and outputs (published and under review/in-press) I’ve been connected to, I will be blogging about these separately in due course.
Please do get in contact if you want to discuss or know more.
VPos