Abstract

This paper sets out to examine how exponents of global mega -sport events, while claiming that they foster and develop unity, friendship and cosmopolitan identities, are in fact increasingly concerned more with our identities as consumers. In this connection we focus on the seemingly contradictory nature and problematic vision of the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) 'Celebrate Humanity' campaign. ln this paper we draw on strands of this realist-critical perspective, focusing on how the value highlighted in the campaign, far from acting as a counterbalance to 'the international commercial sport entertainment complex' play a more subtle and invidious role. Not only do the campaign's explicit values go hand-in-hand with the development of Olympism as a brand sold to sponsors and the wider public, they also allow TOP sponsors to reposition themselves and ensure that their brands can compete globally. This analysis is informed by critical political economy and process sociology. Aus dem Text