Document Type
Journal Article
Publication Title
American Behavioral Scientist
Publisher
Sage
School
School of Education
RAS ID
71477
Funders
Australian Research Council / Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries, Western Australia / Cricket Victoria / Centre for Multicultural Youth / Victorian Health Promotion Foundation
Grant Number
LP180100038
Abstract
In the wake of the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan and its ban on women’s sport, hundreds of Afghan athletes, including several Olympians, decided to flee the country rather than give up their sports and see their rights curtailed. This paper explores how Afghan women now living in Australia navigate agency and aspirations on and off the soccer field within the context of high levels of uncertainty, instability, and constraint. Drawing on qualitative interviews with 18 participants, the results demonstrate how soccer offers an insightful microcosm of settlement as a continuation of a fraught journey. The findings reveal both the multi-layered constraints the women experienced and how they navigated these constraints with creativity, resourcefulness, and aspiration for the future.
DOI
10.1177/00027642241261242
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Comments
Spaaij, R., Ravi, A., Magee, J., Jeanes, R., Penney, D., & O’Connor, J. (2024). “Our right to play”: How Afghan women navigate constraints, agency, and aspirations on and off the soccer field. American Behavioral Scientist. Advanced online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/00027642241261242