The Olympic Games
A Critical Approach
Published on 15. April 2020
Book
Paperback/Softback
264 pages
978-1-83867-776-3 (ISBN)
Description
Do the Olympic Games really live up to their glowing reputation? As the biggest global sport mega-event, the Olympics command public attention, while Olympic mythology obscures their underlying function as a profit-making business. Unlike terms such as 'Olympic movement' and 'Olympic family', the concept of 'Olympic industry' focuses on sport as an economic and political enterprise, with its beneficiaries including sponsors, media rights holders, developers, and politicians. Negative impacts on host cities disproportionately threaten the lives and well-being of disadvantaged minorities. Citizens' Olympic resistance campaigns address a range of human rights abuses, while recent athlete activism also focuses on the doping problem and the sexual abuse of girls and women. Female athletes with 'differences of sexual development' face discriminatory gender policies that disqualify them from women's events. All of these issues are analysed through a feminist, anti-racist lens.
Reviews / Votes
Lenskyj's contribution to the world of sports is an important, sharp and brave reminder that sport is political, that athletes are humans with rights not instruments for others to (mis)use for the benefit of themselves. We must never forget that as long as sports, in this case the Olympic industry, impacts the lives of its practitioners negatively, it needs to develop in line with the societal demands, regulations and laws and not to construct a sphere of its own. -- Marie Larneby, Malmoe University in European Journal for Sport and Society (2021) The Olympic Games: A Critical Approach represents the culmination of her [Lenskyj's] career. Her approach of the book is critical, and addresses a wide range of issues regarding the industry and various actors surrounding the Olympics. [...] Lenskyj's contribution to the world of sports is an important, sharp and brave reminder that sport is political, that athletes are humans with rights and not instruments for others to (mis)use for the benefit of themselves. -- Marie Larneby, Department of Sport Science, Malmoe University, Malmoe, SwedenMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Bingley
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 129 mm
Thickness: 14 mm
Weight
287 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-83867-776-3 (9781838677763)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
04/2020
1st Edition
Emerald Publishing Limited
€20.99
Available for download
Person
Helen Jefferson Lenskyj is Professor Emerita, University of Toronto. Her work as a researcher and activist on gender and sport issues began in the 1980s, and her critiques of the Olympic industry include Inside the Olympic Industry and Olympic Industry Resistance.
Content
Chapter 1. Introduction and Background Chapter 2. Olympic Resistance
Chapter 3. 'Sport and Politics Don't Mix'
Chapter 4. Olympic Industry Impacts
Chapter 5. Reform: 'To Restore Reputation'
Chapter 6. Athletes, Politics, and Protest
Chapter 7. 'Educating Youth Through Sport'
Chapter 8. Athletes' Rights, Athletes' Lives
Chapter 9. Gender Policies: Challenges and Responses
Chapter 10. The Olympics: 'Not a Welfare Program but a Business Venture'
Chapter 3. 'Sport and Politics Don't Mix'
Chapter 4. Olympic Industry Impacts
Chapter 5. Reform: 'To Restore Reputation'
Chapter 6. Athletes, Politics, and Protest
Chapter 7. 'Educating Youth Through Sport'
Chapter 8. Athletes' Rights, Athletes' Lives
Chapter 9. Gender Policies: Challenges and Responses
Chapter 10. The Olympics: 'Not a Welfare Program but a Business Venture'