The Politics of the Olympics: A Survey (Europa Politics of ...)

The Politics of the Olympics: A Survey provides information on and analysis of the relationship between politics and the Olympic Games. It is argued and demonstrated throughout the book that sport and politics have been and are intimately connected and nowhere is this relationship more apparent than in the Olympic Games. The essay chapters, including an editorial introduction, are written by a variety of academic experts. They focus on the politics of the Olympic movement, the politics of hosting the Games, the political implications of performance enhancement, and gender, terrorism and physical impairment within the Olympic context. The remaining chapters are case studies that are specific to certain countries or regions – Germany during the rise to power of National Socialism, Eastern Europe in the Cold War era, South Korea and Taiwan. Each chapter is accompanied by a select bibliography. The A-Z Glossary provides up-to-date and concise information on famous Olympians, presidents of the International Olympic Committee, specific events, boycotts and demonstrations – each of which has been politically significant in the history of the Games. Entries are cross-referenced for ease of use. A map of the venues for the Olympic Games is also included. With the ever increasing global significance of the Olympic Games, it has never been more topical to address the political issues that surround, influence and emanate from this quadrennial sporting mega event. In terms of the most recent evidence of the politics of the Olympics, the 2008 Beijing Games were riddled with political messages and content from the outset, and provided a global stage for protesters with numerous agendas. These included, to name but a few, proposed boycotts, potential terrorist attacks, the question of open media access, protests against China's political practices and attempts to interrupt the 'traditional' torch rally. Essays in this collection focus on numerous political aspects of the Olympics from a variety of different perspectives, with a Glossary that contains a range of politically relevant entries relating to famous and infamous Olympic athletes, Olympic movement personnel and events and broader political issues and developments which have affected the modern Games. The purpose of this anthology is not to perpetuate hatred towards the concept and practices of Olympism or to regurgitate a 'celebratory party line'. Instead, in addition to being informative, the book offers critical engagement with the Olympics by raising awareness of the movement's political significance. Consequently, the essays in this anthology illustrate the strong but changing links between the modern Olympic Games and politics, in general, and address and discuss the key political aspects and issues with regard to the Games themselves, to national and international sport organisations and to specific countries' attitudes to (ab)using the idea/ideal of the Olympics for their own political ends Reference and Information Science Book Cover 1 Title 4 Copyright 5 Foreword 6 Contents 8 List of tables 9 Acknowledgements 10 The editors and contributors 11 Abbreviations 15 Essays 20 The politics of the Olympics: An introduction 22 Olympic power, Olympic politics: Behind the scenes 34 The politics of hosting the Olympic Games 46 Politics of gender through the Olympics: The changing nature of women’s involvement in the Olympics 60 The politics of performance enhancement in the Olympic Games 77 Disability, Olympism and Paralympism 88 The Olympics and terrorism 100 Berlin 1936 112 The Olympics and the Cold War: An Eastern European perspective 125 The Olympics in the post-Soviet era: The case of the two Koreas 136 Taiwanese identities and the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games 148 A–Z Glossary 164 A 166 B 176 C 184 D 193 E 195 F 197 G 199 H 202 I 206 J 210 K 212 L 215 M 221 N 233 O 237 P 241 R 244 S 248 T 256 V 259 W 260 Z 264 "The Politics of the Olympics: A Survey, provides information on and analysis of the relationship between politics and the Olympic Games, it is argued and demonstrated throughout the book that sport and politics have been and are intimately connected and nowhere is this relationship more apparent than in the Olympic Games."--BOOK JACKET