Sport, Economies and Mega-Events

Sports mega-events and global sport culture are structurally and experientially central to capitalist (post-) modernity. This session seeks to both assess this statement and explore other questions, including: What are the economic, political and social risks and benefits of hosting sports mega-events? What implications, if any, can be drawn from analyses of recent and forthcoming spectacular sports mega-events in the East and Global South for a broader understanding of changing relations of economic and political power on a global scale? To what extent do mega-events intervene in systems of governance at the local, national and international levels? What do mega-events tell us about the significance or the effectiveness of various forms of popular resistance to global power networks? What do mega-events tell us about the role of communications media in the early twenty first century political economy of global culture?