Post-Olympism: Questioning Sport in the Twenty-First Century

by John Bale (Editor)

The Olympic ideal and the Olympic Games stand as symbols of global cooperation, international understanding and the bonding of individuals through the medium of sports. However, throughout the twentieth century, Olympic rhetoric was often confronted by a different reality. The Games have regularly been faced by crises that have threatened the spirit of Olympism and even the Games themselves. Given the many changes that have occurred in the Olympic Games during the past century it seems reasonable to ask if this global event has a future and, if so, what form it might take. With this larger issue in mind, the authors of Post-Olympism? ask probing questions about the the infamous 1936 Olympics the effect of new technologies on the Games the future impact of the 2008 Beijing Games on China and of China on the Olympics the local and regional impact of the Sydney green Olympics the Games and globalization Disneyfication racism drug abuse The book provides a useful overview of the ongoing significance of the Olympics and will be essential reading for anyone with a serious interest in the Games.

276 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2004

Reviews

[Kristen Byers · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little too much theory to be directly relevant to my research but still a couple interesting papers in this one.

[Malcolm · Rating 4 out of 5]

This a marvellous set of conference papers many of which engage critically with the notion that the olympic games are associated with a philosophy (Olympism). Whereas a couple fail to develop a critical edge, Bale and Christensen have been able to assemble a group of scholars from across the disciplines – history, politics, sociology, philosophy and elsewhere – who rather than setting out to debunk, critique and extend the issues surrounding performance sport in exciting and provocative ways.