Global games: Culture, political economy and sport in the globalised world of the 21st century (original) (raw)
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Culture, politics and spectacle in the global sports event – an introduction
2006
The political exploitation of the global sports spectacle and the cultural and economic ramifications of its staging have been critical indices of the intensifying globalization of both media and sport. Sports events celebrating the body and physical culture have long been driven by political and ideological motives, from the ancient civilizations of Greece and Rome to the societies of early modern Europe, in more modern Western societies as well as less developed and non-Western ones. This is never more so than when such events purport to be spheres of neutrality and embodiments of universalist and idealist principles. Spectacles have been justified on the basis of their potential to realize shared, global modes of identity and interdependence, making real the sense of a global civil society. Understanding this form of spectacle, and the extent to which its claimed goals have been met or compromised, contributes to an understanding of the sources of ethnocentrism, and to debates concerning the possibility of a cultural cosmopolitanism combining rivalry, respect, and reciprocal understanding. Analyzing the global sports spectacle is a way of reviewing the contribution of international sport to the globalization process generally, and to processes and initiatives of global inclusion and exclusion. The most dramatic and high profile of such spectacles have been the modern Olympic Games and the men's football World Cup (henceforth World Cup). Such sporting encounters and contests have provided a source of and a focus for the staging of spectacle and, in an era of international mass communications, the media event. In any history of globalization, it would be an oversight to omit coverage of the foundation and growth of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), founded in 1894 and 1904 respectively. The growth of these organizations, and of their major events, has provided a platform for national pride and prestige. Greece saw the symbolic potential of staging an international event such as the first modern Olympics in 1896 to both assert its incipient modernity and to deflect domestic tensions. Uruguay, having cultivated double Olympic soccer 1
Many social scientists see Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa as emerging powers. Analyzing to what extent these countries have the size, the resources, and the will to achieve great power status they find that all these countries are the largest countries with the biggest economies in their regions and play an important role in the global polity. The effects of symbolic power accumulation, however, are frequently ignored and significantly underestimated. The paper contributes to the discussion on emerging powers by analyzing global symbolic power formation. Therefore, a field of global symbolism, namely the global field of sport is reviewed. Sport in general can be seen as a mechanism to strengthen the national identity of any country and its vision of itself. Hence, the paper argues that the investment into sport is a useful strategy to improve citizens' self-perception as an emerging power and to gain support for their 'expanding' politics. Furthermore, it argues that the power status of emerging powers can be read off from the supply and success in international and global sport events. Consequently, it is not of great surprise that emerging countries have started hosing major sport event recently (Olympic Summer Games 2008 and Olympic Winter Games 2022 in China; Soccer World Championship 2010 in South Africa, Commonwealth Games 2010 and Cricket World Cup 2011 in India; Olympic Winter Games 2014 and the FIFA World Cup 2018 in Russia, FIFA World Cup 2014 and the Olympic Summer Games 2016 in Brazil).
SPORT MEGA EVENTS AND THE GLOBAL SOUTH: CONSEQUENCES OF A RENEWED POLICY
The subject of this text is the preliminary findings and reflections made during the first year of the doctoral research entitled "PROBLEMATISING FIFA WORLD CUP 2014: POLITICAL ECONOMY AND THE CITY", conducted at the University of Loughborough by the author under the supervising of Prof. Richard Giulianotti. It will be discussed relationships between sport mega-events (SMEs) and broader issues, as economy and politics, and how a renewed policy of SMEs allocation seems to have brought Olympic Games and World Cups to developing countries in an organised way of maximising profits. Furthermore, it will be examined some of the vectors that have been relevant in the expansion of the growing budget of SMEs, specially in developing countries, with special attention to the role of construction companies. In the context of the urban issues, it will be debated how SMEs, used as an alleged catalyst for transformations and renovations in cities, impacted in Brazil and specifically in the city of Porto Alegre. Additionally it will be presented what are considered relevant and provocative data on different themes related to FIFA World Cup 2014, as budget, housing, evictions, human rights, construction, sport and sport gentrification.
The Legacy of Sport Events for Emerging Nations
Frontiers in Sport and Active Living, 2022
Large-scale and mega sport events (SMEs), such as Olympic Games and FIFA World Cups, have been more frequently hosted in emerging nations. Bidding and hosting SMEs is considered an object of policy for many emerging nations, with SMEs viewed as key factors in local and national development strategies. This has largely been driven by the assumption that their legacy provides solutions to economic, social, cultural, or political challenges. A variety of legacies have predominated the literature over the past two decades, however it is proposed that there is a difference in the types of legacies anticipated or realized within emerging nations. This exploratory study therefore aimed to determine the types of legacies anticipated or realized by emerging nations as a result of hosting sport events, and to determine if these differ from those of established nations. A systematic literature review followed the PRISMA approach to identify and select peer-reviewed articles that focused on legacies from major and mega-events hosted in emerging nations. A set of 97 publications were analyzed qualitatively to reveal the key legacy themes. The findings confirm legacy as a growing body of knowledge in emerging nations, aligned with increasing event hosting. The findings reveal insights on the extent of literature on this topic in emerging nations, including the major nations, events, authors and publications represented. While the paper cannot determine unique legacies for emerging nations, it identifies key legacy focus areas for these nations, primarily: social development; politics, soft-power and sport-for-peace; the economics of tourism, image and branding; infrastructure and urban development; and sport development. This paper proposes a conceptualization of key legacy areas for emerging nations and proposes future research themes. The paper is unique in its highlighting of the significance of legacy outcomes for emerging nations from the hosting of sport mega-events. It therefore contributes to a more nuanced understanding of and imperative for legacy from sport events globally.
Globalistics and Globalization Studies: Global Transformations and Global Future (Reprint), 2016
Many social scientists see Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa as emerging powers. Analyzing to what extent these countries have the size, the resources, and the will to achieve great power status they find that all these countries are the largest countries with the biggest economies in their regions and play an important role in the global polity. The effects of symbolic power accumulation, however, are frequently ignored and signfficantly underestimated. The paper contributes to the discussion on emerging powers by analyzing global symbolic power formation. Therefore, a field of global symbolism, namely the global field of sport is reviewed. Sport in general can be seen es a mechanism to sfrengthen the national identity of any country and its vision of itself. Hence, the paper argues that the investment into sport is a useful strategl to improve citizens' self-perception as an emerging power and to gain support for their 'expanding' politics. Furthermore, it argues hat the power status of emerging powers cen be read off from the supply and success in international and global sport events. Consequently, it is not of great surprise that emerging countries have started hosing major sport event recently (Olympic Summer Games 2008 and Olympic Winter Games 2022 in China; Soccer World Championship 2010 in South Africa, Commonwealth Games 2010 and Cricket World Cup 2011 in India, Olympic Winter Games 2014 and the FIFA World Cup 2018 in Russia, FIFA World Cup 2014 and the Olympic Summer Games 2016 in Brazil).
Sport mega-events, the non-West and the ethics of event hosting
Sport in Society, 2018
Events and sports events are perceived as having the potential to contribute to a number of benefits for the host country and its communities. However, mega sports events in particular are also known for their darker side. These consequences flow from the scale and complexity of the event, and the logistics of delivering what is effectively a national mega-project. The socio-political and economic environment of the host is an important consideration for both prospective hosts and event owners when allocating hosting rights. It is therefore, unsurprising that concerns have been raised over the relatively recent relocation of events to developing countries which, by their nature, frequently lack the economic, political and social stability of the traditional industrialized host. Developing nations are less affluent and arguably less prepared to deliver large scale sports events than developed nations. Within developing contexts the cost of hosting and risk of failure is likely to be far higher than for events held in the developed world. Therefore, this paper asks, 'are governing bodies, when equipped with this knowledge, ethically obliged to withhold hosting rights from developing countries?' The paper argues that denying sovereign States the right to make their own decisions would appear to compound the disadvantaged status of countries that mega-event hosting is perceived to address. It would also reinforce the positioning of countries as subordinate and subject to a form of neo-colonial control. Indeed, despite laudable claims, the primary interest of the event owners is the delivery of an event, meaning that considerations of individual national contexts are largely irrelevant to any award. The paper contends that event hosts – particularly those in the developing world-are potentially vulnerable to exploitation by the event owner.
Mega-sporting events can be described by their leveraging and intricacy in management and delivery. This article reviews the literature on the characteristics of such events and, drawing specific models from almost recent Olympic Games, it identifies the character and dimension of their leveraging on the host country and society. The paper finalizes that while the perspective of economic development is the driving power behind bids for hosting the Olympic Games, the heritages that pursuit their hosting are hard to measure, prone to political explanation and multifaceted. The mega-sporting events are in essence, only the catalyst for the efforts.
The Political Sociology of Sports: Issues Critical to Emerging Countries
The sports industry has evolved into big business with heightened commercialization and professionalization which creates daunting challenges to countries especially emerging economies. The purpose of this article is to identify the critical societal issues involved in the organization of and participation in sports and to particularly relate the issues to emerging countries with the small Caribbean state of Trinidad and Tobago as the reference point. The paper utilizes a qualitative research approach based on: research of documentary secondary data; case examples distilled from experiences reported in the literature; and behavioral observation of sporting events. The critical themes indentified were: racial ideology and participation; exclusion of racial groups; media representation; politics and international sports; globalized political power; and, particularly relevant to emerging countries, politics in soccer and stadia development. The findings emphasize the need for greater public participation in major investment decisions surrounding the provision of sporting facilities, and point to the increasing risk of the exploitation of athletes from emerging countries that provide entertainment to spectators in more developed societies with sponsors reaping the major benefits. The value of this paper lies in the link of the critical issues in sports investment, organization, management, and participation to small emerging countries.