The relationships between Non Governmental Organizations and the Government of Paraná in field sports

Abstract

This research aims to discuss the relations and the development of social and sportive projects by Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and by the Paraná Government. Considering the approach among the political, the sports and the NGOs fields and the disputes existent between the agents inserted in the intersection of these spaces, this study intends to show the operation logic and the social and legal mechanisms that regulate the partnerships between NGOs that offer social and sportive projects and the current management of the Paraná Government, specifically the actions of the Paraná Esporte. To achieve this objective, this study used a qualitative research methodology that encompassed analysis of documents, semi-structured interviews and questionnaires as instruments for data collection. The tools to interpret the data are based on Pierre Bourdieu and Norbert Elias’s sociological theories. The first chapter presents some aspects related to the theories developed by these authors and how their analytical categories can substantiate this study. The following chapter shows the discussion about the emergence and the structure of the NGOs, presenting their definition, rules, relations of interdependence with the state and the information about their action areas on non-governmental sectors. The third chapter shows the relationships between Paraná Esporte and NGOs implanted in the state, in special those between the program Rexona Ades Esporte Cidadão developed in partnership with the Government of Paraná since 1997. This chapter also shows the centralization of partnerships and discusses the aloofness of some NGOs to the public power, showing specifically the Centro Integrado de Assistência Gerador de Movimento para a Cidadania (CIAGYM) and the Associação Maringaense de Handebol (AMH). The analysis of these data indicates that the relationships between the NGOs and the government of Paraná are based on a web of mutual interdependence, in which each partner exerts a compelling power over the other. The social agents, included those in the NGOs and in the Paraná Esporte are constantly striving to acquire a suite of capital and, in this movement, all their actions are guided by specific interests in the field that they are part of, noting that the objectives change according to different configurations. Accordingly, the approchement between the government and NGOs are based on actions that guarantee benefits to the agents included in these institutions. Thus, the use of sports and the implementation of projects that have a social nature are strategies that can give prestige to these agents. Therefore, it’s possible to believe that the legal mechanisms that regulate partnerships are subjected to the mechanisms that define the rules of the social game played on this space of intersection.