Jonathan Grix
Biographic Data
| ID | 329406 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Jonathan Grix |
| GIVEN NAMES | Jonathan |
| FAMILY NAME | Grix |
| SIGNATURE | GRIX J |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Birmingham |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-7315-1641 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 47 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 332 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 44 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 3 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1997 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 9 |
Demystifying sportswashing: An assemblage theory perspective on authoritarian states’ investment in global sport
The article makes an original and significant contribution to international relations in three notable ways. First, we show that international relations scholars should exercise caution in their use of ‘sportswashing’, a term that has swiftly grown in popularity to detail the process through which non-democratic states invest in sport to distract global audiences away from their illegitimate or immoral practices. In heavily critiquing the term, w…
Sport and Power: Hard power, soft power and smart power
This paper makes an original and significant contribution to knowledge by rethinking the role of power in sport and leisure studies. Notably, the paper provides much needed theoretical clarity on the concept of ‘smart power’, and in doing so, then advances the first smart power analysis of sport and leisure. Furthermore, the paper implements a systematic framework for analysing power in sport and leisure, one that locates how hard, soft and smart…
Unpacking the politics of ‘sportswashing: It takes two to tango
The concept of ‘sportswashing’ serves as a short-hand way of criticising non-democratic regimes for using investment in sport, sports clubs, and sports events to detract from illiberal practices in their home countries. This article makes a contribution to the extant literature and debates on ‘sportswashing’ in three key ways by (1) showing that, paradoxically, without the encouragement and opportunities afforded by notionally democratic global c…
Money talks: Analysing the PGA Tour-LIV Golf jurisdictional contest via Western media narratives
This paper analyses Western media narratives of the jurisdictional contest between LIV Golf, a novel upstart professional golf tour, and the long-established PGA Tour, generally understood to be the pinnacle of men's professional golf. In doing so, the paper seeks to answer two research questions: How do dominant incumbent sporting professions utilise the court of public opinion to defend their territory from encroachment by new rivals? What are …
Comparative Elite Sport Development: Systems, Structures and Public Policy
The role of sports mega-events in China’s unique soft power strategy
This article investigates the contribution of states’ soft power strategies to the process of East Asia’s increasing global economic and political significance. We identify hosting sports mega-events as key to such strategies and thereby seek to add to both the literature on regional ‘soft power’ and acquiring it through sport. Using East Asia as the focus, we concentrate on China’s leveraging of the Beijing 2008 and 2022 Olympics for soft power …
Authoritarian States and Global Sport: The Contested Cases of Qatar, the UAE and Saudi Arabia
Sport and authoritarianism have long been bedfellows, especially during the Cold War era. 'Traditional' authoritarian regimes-most notably the Soviet Union and its satellite states-learnt the art of instrumentalizing sport for political ends from each other. Motives for this included garnering international prestige via excellence in elite sport and showcasing communism as a viable alternative to capitalism. This paper shows how the 'new' authori…
Sports Mega-Events as Foreign Policy: Sport Diplomacy, "Soft Power," and "Sportswashing
Sports mega-events (SMEs), such as the Olympic Games and the FIFA World Cup, have become a key part of state strategies to achieve a multitude of foreign policy goals. The literature attempting to explain this-often under the broad umbrella term of "sport diplomacy"-has recently been bolstered by the arrival of two very popular concepts in this area of research, "soft power" and "sportswashing," leading to confusion and a general lack of consensu…
Nation-state strategies for human capital development: The case of sports mega-events in Qatar
The paper makes an original contribution to knowledge in three ways. First, through interviews with experts in Qatar, we uncover the role major sports events seek to play in the development of Qatar’s indigenous population. Our findings show that, alongside seeking to achieve various international objectives, these events are also intended to have a positive impact on the state’s human capital development at home. Specifically, in this regard, th…
Understanding Russia’s identity through Olympic ceremonies
This paper focuses on the comparative (mis-)interpretation of the 1980 Moscow and 2014 Sochi Olympic ceremonies by media outlets located in Great Britain and the USA, Russia's 'significant others'. Further, the paper attempts to uncover the most persistent facets of Russia's identity – by decoding culturally-specific meanings of the signs and symbols in both ceremonies – and to trace which aspects of its national narrative Russia had to let go ev…
Understanding South Korea’s Use of Sports Mega-Events for Domestic, Regional and International Soft Power
This paper seeks to contribute to the growing literature on ‘soft power’ by focusing on East Asia as a region gaining in political and economic significance; equally, we highlight the role sports mega-events play in the region’s most powerful states’ soft power strategies. For the purpose of this paper, we focus on South Korea’s soft power strategy and how the hosting of major sporting events has become a central part of this. We introduce both a…
Entering the Global Arena: Emerging States, Soft Power Strategies and Sports Mega-Events
Leveraging Mega-Event Legacies
War and Peace’ at the 1980 Moscow and 2014 Sochi Olympics: The Role of Hard and Soft Power in Russian Identity
© 2019, © 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. Russia’s (and the USSR’s) use of sports mega-events (SMEs) makes this BRICS country (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) not only an outlier among emerging states, but also among key SME hosts generally. Both the historic Moscow Olympics (1980) and the more recent hosting of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics provide evidence that Russia has, on both occasions, focussed…
Understanding UK Sport Policy in Context
1. Introduction: London 2012 and its legacies 2. Understanding the impact of sport coaching on legacy 3. 'Scienciness' and the allure of second-hand strategy in talent identification and development 4. An analysis of the policy process for physical education and school sport: the rise and demise of school sport partnerships 5. Physical education and youth sport in England: conceptual and practical foundations for an Olympic legacy? 6. The Olympic…
International prestige through ‘sporting success: An Evaluation of the Evidence
A central argument for public funding of elite sport is the claim that success at the Olympic Games or world championships leads to increasing international prestige for cities and states. While this assumption seems plausible in general, it clearly lacks specification. Given this, we first discuss here several theoretical approaches in order to unpack which forms of prestige can be sought by states in which kind of sports and events. Second, we …
Sport Politics
"A comprehensive and lively introduction to the politics of sport. Introducing the key areas of the subject, it examines how governments around the world have increasingly invested in, promoted and used sport as part of their political agenda"
Of Mechanisms and Myths: Conceptualising States’ “Soft Power” Strategies through Sports Mega-Events
Joseph Nye’s concept of “soft power” has become an increasingly used term to help explain why states—including so-called “emerging states”—are paying greater attention to acquiring various forms of cultural and political attraction. However, within mainstream International Relations, Political Science, and Sport Studies literature, a continuous debate remains as to what actually constitutes soft power, how national leaders go about acquiring it, …
Beyond the Acronyms: Sport Diplomacy and the Classification of the International Olympic Committee
Diplomacy often finds itself reduced to actions centred on states. However, after the Cold War, international relations and diplomacy have expanded with different actors growing into significant roles, particularly in the increase of diplomatic relations in the context of sport. The classification and significance of other actors remains under-researched in relation to sport, with literature focusing more on the growth of new and varying practice…
Doping in team and individual sports: A qualitative investigation of moral disengagement and associated processes
The current study qualitatively investigated psychosocial processes that support performance enhancing drug use in athletes from a range of sports, using Bandura’s social cognitive theory of moral thought and action as the guiding theoretical framework. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with twelve male athletes from a variety of sports who had used illicit performance enhancing substances within the previous two years. Interview…
Public health policy and walking in England—analysis of the 2008 ‘policy window’
Despite previous interest in walking promotion from the health and transport sectors, it was the recent alignment with the sports agenda that led to increased political commitment. This raises concerns that the research evidence on the health benefits of physical activity and rising levels of inactivity in England, are insufficient to secure government support and investment, and that multi-sector lobbying and joined-up political action may be cr…
Interrogating States’ Soft Power Strategies: A Case Study of Sports Mega-Events in Brazil and the UK
Central to this article is the use of sports mega-events as part of a state's “soft power” strategy. The article offers two things: first, a critique of the “soft power” concept and a clearer understanding of what it refers to by drawing on the political use of sports mega-events by states; second, the article seeks to understand how and why sports mega-events are attractive to states with different political systems and at different stages of ec…
Introduction to the Special Issue on Challenges to Emerging and Established Powers: Brazil and the United Kingdom in the Contemporary Global Order
Megaeventos esportivos e seus legados: Uma análise dos efeitos institucionais da eleição do Brasil como país-sede
Este trabalho visa a examinar os efeitos institucionais da realização da Copa do Mundo de 2014 e dos Jogos Olímpicos de 2016 no Brasil. Trata-se de analisar as mudanças jurídico-institucionais para atender às demandas das organizações esportivas internacionais que possuem o controle sobre o esporte de alto rendimento e os eventos a ele correlatos, de sorte a identificar eventuais impactos nas instituições do país-sede. Para a consecução desse obj…
Leveraging legacies from sports mega-events: Concepts and cases
PART I: CONCEPTUAL ISSUES 1. From Legacy to Leverage Laurence Chalip 2. Megas for Strivers: the Politics of Second Order Events David Black 3. 'Legacy' Revisited Holger Preuss 4. Sports Mega-Events and Mass Participation in Sport Mike Weed 5. Neo-Liberalism and Sports Mega-Events Michael Silk PART II: PREVIOUS SPORTS MEGA-EVENT STRATEGIES 6. Sydney 2000 and Melbourne 2006: A Tale of Two Australian Cities Bob Stewart 7. 'Leaving Las Magas', or Can…
Sports Mega-Events as Part of a Nation's Soft Power Strategy: The Cases of Germany (2006) and the UK (2012)
Research Highlights and Abstract The article discusses how states are increasingly using sports mega-events as part of their ‘soft power’ strategies The limited literature on ‘soft power’ and sports mega-events fails to either explain the concept and how it pertains to sport or provide examples that operationalize the concept empirically. Further research can build on the idea of sports mega-events being used for public diplomacy; the case of Ger…
Soft Power, Sports Mega-Events and Emerging States: The Lure of the Politics of Attraction
This article highlights and analyses a hitherto largely neglected dimension to the growing agency of large developing countries in global affairs: their hosting of international sports mega-events. Why are large developing countries hosting sports mega-events and what does this contemporary phenomenon tell us about the significance of, for example, the Olympics and the World Cup in global affairs? We explore these questions through brief examinat…
Of Mechanisms and Myths: Conceptualising States’ “Soft Power” Strategies through Sports Mega-Events
Joseph Nye’s concept of “soft power” has become an increasingly used term to help explain why states—including so-called “emerging states”—are paying greater attention to acquiring various forms of cultural and political attraction. However, within mainstream International Relations, Political Science, and Sport Studies literature, a continuous debate remains as to what actually constitutes soft power, how national leaders go about acquiring it, …
Sport Politics and the Olympics
Sport and politics have long been linked, but the Olympic Games represent the most political sports event of all. The following article focuses on two of the most important aspects of the Olympics (and sports ‘mega-events’ in general) that students of politics and international relations could make a major contribution towards: the use of the Olympics by states to showcase the host nation and the hoped-for ‘legacies’ that arise from them. Both as…
Bringing Structures Back In: The ‘Governance Narrative’, the ‘Decentred Approach’ and ‘Asymmetrical Network Governance’ in the Education and Sport Policy Communities
We reflect upon the ‘governance narrative’ as a means of conceptualizing recent developments in the British state. Recent public administration research has advocated a ‘decentred approach’ that would reject the linear narrative of a shift from hierarchical to network governance. We seek to build on ‘decentring’ theorists' critique of existing governance literature by offering case studies of the education and sport policy communities, arguing th…
Introducing Students to the Generic Terminology of Social Research
The aim of this article is twofold: first, to present an accessible way of introducing students to the key generic terms of social science research. There is an obvious need for clarifying the generic tools and terminology of the social sciences across the disciplines, as academics argue past each other, using identical terms but attaching different meanings to them. Secondly, this article presents the interrelationship between the core concepts …
Interrogating States’ Soft Power Strategies: A Case Study of Sports Mega-Events in Brazil and the UK
Central to this article is the use of sports mega-events as part of a state's “soft power” strategy. The article offers two things: first, a critique of the “soft power” concept and a clearer understanding of what it refers to by drawing on the political use of sports mega-events by states; second, the article seeks to understand how and why sports mega-events are attractive to states with different political systems and at different stages of ec…
Unpacking the politics of ‘sportswashing: It takes two to tango
The concept of ‘sportswashing’ serves as a short-hand way of criticising non-democratic regimes for using investment in sport, sports clubs, and sports events to detract from illiberal practices in their home countries. This article makes a contribution to the extant literature and debates on ‘sportswashing’ in three key ways by (1) showing that, paradoxically, without the encouragement and opportunities afforded by notionally democratic global c…
International prestige through ‘sporting success: An Evaluation of the Evidence
A central argument for public funding of elite sport is the claim that success at the Olympic Games or world championships leads to increasing international prestige for cities and states. While this assumption seems plausible in general, it clearly lacks specification. Given this, we first discuss here several theoretical approaches in order to unpack which forms of prestige can be sought by states in which kind of sports and events. Second, we …
Revisiting the ‘Governance Narrative: Asymmetrical Network Governance’ and the Deviant Case of the Sports Policy Sector
This article offers an empirical counter-example to the tenets of the increasingly popular conceptualisation of British Politics and policy as having shifted from ‘big’ Government to governance by networks and partnerships. We point to the paradox in many policy sectors: an outward appearance of ‘new’ multi-agency governance that would appear to confirm the ‘governance narrative’. However, the underlying hierarchical power structures at work in s…
East German political attitudes: Socialist legacies v. situational factors a false antithesis
This paper introduces the two main competing approaches that attempt to explain east German political attitudes in post‐unification Germany, the ‘situational thesis’ and the ‘socialisation thesis’. Furthermore, the paper suggests that these ‘either/or’ approaches are in fact inseparable and only make sense when taken together. Political attitudes in east Germany are influenced by the past, the recent past and the present. The result of both the s…
The Decline of Mass Sport Provision in the German Democratic Republic
The German Democratic Republic's sports system, often termed a ‘sports miracle’, produced outstanding results in international sport. Drug abuse aside, this system appeared to be based on a robust and symbiotic relationship with mass sport, which was amply provided for by the state. Using unpublished letters sent by GDR citizens to the state authorities drawn from the Federal Archive in Berlin, this article sheds light on the miserable state of m…
Constructing Germany's Image in the British Press: An Empirical Analysis of Stereotypical Reporting on Germany
Germany's image in the UK has always been of intense interest to academics and politicians alike, but even more so since the end of the Second World War. A nation's image, usually constructed in great part by and through the media, can become, over time, part of a national political culture. For this reason we seek in the following article to analyse the reporting on Germany and the Germans of four UK national newspapers over time. Whilst many co…
Centralized grassroots sport policy and 'new governance: A case study of County Sports Partnerships in the UK - unpacking the paradox
This article offers the first empirical account of the role of County Sport Partnerships (CSPs) in delivering grassroots sport policy in the UK. Current leading academic approaches to policy delivery in the UK suggest that we have witnessed a move from 'big' government to governance by and through networks and partnerships. Such a process is said to have led to a dispersal of power among many actors and diminished the ability of the state to cont…
The Euroregion as a Social Capital Maximizer: The German-Polish Euroregion Pro-Europa Viadrina
(2002). The Euroregion as a Social Capital Maximizer: The German-Polish Euroregion Pro-Europa Viadrina. Regional & Federal Studies: Vol. 12, No. 4, pp. 154-176
Nation-state strategies for human capital development: The case of sports mega-events in Qatar
The paper makes an original contribution to knowledge in three ways. First, through interviews with experts in Qatar, we uncover the role major sports events seek to play in the development of Qatar’s indigenous population. Our findings show that, alongside seeking to achieve various international objectives, these events are also intended to have a positive impact on the state’s human capital development at home. Specifically, in this regard, th…
Beyond the Acronyms: Sport Diplomacy and the Classification of the International Olympic Committee
Diplomacy often finds itself reduced to actions centred on states. However, after the Cold War, international relations and diplomacy have expanded with different actors growing into significant roles, particularly in the increase of diplomatic relations in the context of sport. The classification and significance of other actors remains under-researched in relation to sport, with literature focusing more on the growth of new and varying practice…
From hobbyhorse to mainstream: Using sport to understand British politics
Authoritarian States and Global Sport: The Contested Cases of Qatar, the UAE and Saudi Arabia
Sport and authoritarianism have long been bedfellows, especially during the Cold War era. 'Traditional' authoritarian regimes-most notably the Soviet Union and its satellite states-learnt the art of instrumentalizing sport for political ends from each other. Motives for this included garnering international prestige via excellence in elite sport and showcasing communism as a viable alternative to capitalism. This paper shows how the 'new' authori…
Sports Mega-Events as Foreign Policy: Sport Diplomacy, "Soft Power," and "Sportswashing
Sports mega-events (SMEs), such as the Olympic Games and the FIFA World Cup, have become a key part of state strategies to achieve a multitude of foreign policy goals. The literature attempting to explain this-often under the broad umbrella term of "sport diplomacy"-has recently been bolstered by the arrival of two very popular concepts in this area of research, "soft power" and "sportswashing," leading to confusion and a general lack of consensu…
War and Peace’ at the 1980 Moscow and 2014 Sochi Olympics: The Role of Hard and Soft Power in Russian Identity
© 2019, © 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. Russia’s (and the USSR’s) use of sports mega-events (SMEs) makes this BRICS country (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) not only an outlier among emerging states, but also among key SME hosts generally. Both the historic Moscow Olympics (1980) and the more recent hosting of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics provide evidence that Russia has, on both occasions, focussed…
Resilience and unemployment: A case study of East German women
This is the author's PDF version of an article published in German politics ©2005. The definitive version is available at http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/routledg/gp
Sport and Power: Hard power, soft power and smart power
This paper makes an original and significant contribution to knowledge by rethinking the role of power in sport and leisure studies. Notably, the paper provides much needed theoretical clarity on the concept of ‘smart power’, and in doing so, then advances the first smart power analysis of sport and leisure. Furthermore, the paper implements a systematic framework for analysing power in sport and leisure, one that locates how hard, soft and smart…
Money talks: Analysing the PGA Tour-LIV Golf jurisdictional contest via Western media narratives
This paper analyses Western media narratives of the jurisdictional contest between LIV Golf, a novel upstart professional golf tour, and the long-established PGA Tour, generally understood to be the pinnacle of men's professional golf. In doing so, the paper seeks to answer two research questions: How do dominant incumbent sporting professions utilise the court of public opinion to defend their territory from encroachment by new rivals? What are …
Understanding Russia’s identity through Olympic ceremonies
This paper focuses on the comparative (mis-)interpretation of the 1980 Moscow and 2014 Sochi Olympic ceremonies by media outlets located in Great Britain and the USA, Russia's 'significant others'. Further, the paper attempts to uncover the most persistent facets of Russia's identity – by decoding culturally-specific meanings of the signs and symbols in both ceremonies – and to trace which aspects of its national narrative Russia had to let go ev…
Revisited: Getting to the bottom of the GDR'S demise
Aufarbeitung von Geschichte und Folgen der SED‐Diktatur in Deutschland. Nine Volumes. By Enquete Kommission. Frankfurt/M: Suhrkamp, 1995. Aufarbeitung und Versöhnung, ‘Leben in der DDR, Leben nach 1989’. Three Volumes. By landtag mecklenburg‐vorpommern. Schwerin: Stiller & Balewski, 1996. The Politics of Economic Decline in East Germany, 1945–1989. By Jeffrey Kopstein. Chapel Hill and London: University of North Carolina Press, 1997. Der Zusammen…
East German political attitudes: Socialist legacies v. situational factors a false antithesis
This paper introduces the two main competing approaches that attempt to explain east German political attitudes in post‐unification Germany, the ‘situational thesis’ and the ‘socialisation thesis’. Furthermore, the paper suggests that these ‘either/or’ approaches are in fact inseparable and only make sense when taken together. Political attitudes in east Germany are influenced by the past, the recent past and the present. The result of both the s…
East Germany: Continuity and Change
Ian WALLACE: Preface. Section One: Martin KANE: The Role of the East German Writer. Paul COOKE: Continuity and Taboo: Sexual Repression and Vergangenheitsbewaltigung in Wolfgang Hilbig's Die Weiber Simon BEVAN: Change and Continuity in the Work of Christoph Hein: a Comparison of Horns Ende (1985) and Von allem Anfang an (1997) David CLARKE: 'Mit Kunst der Welt beikommen': Christoph Hein on Literature, Ideology and the Possibility of Change in the…
The PDS and the SPD's Dilemma of Governance in the Eastern German Länder
Coalition formation in the Federal Republic of Germany has, following unification in 1990, become a more complex process. This is particularly true in the eastern states, where the existence of a problematic partner (the post-communist Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS)) further complicates coalition options. As a result of its eastern heritage and its successful representation of eastern German interests, the PDS is likely to be an important ac…
The Role of the Masses in the Collapse of the GDR
List of Diagrams, Tables and Charts List of Abbreviations Acknowledgements Introduction PART I Approaches to GDR's Collapse Exit and Voice in Historical Context PART II Schwerin Case Study Exit in Schwerin The Wende in Schwerin Conclusion Notes Appendices Chronology of Events Map of Schwerin Bezirk Bibliography and Sources Index
The Euroregion as a Social Capital Maximizer: The German-Polish Euroregion Pro-Europa Viadrina
(2002). The Euroregion as a Social Capital Maximizer: The German-Polish Euroregion Pro-Europa Viadrina. Regional & Federal Studies: Vol. 12, No. 4, pp. 154-176
Introducing Students to the Generic Terminology of Social Research
The aim of this article is twofold: first, to present an accessible way of introducing students to the key generic terms of social science research. There is an obvious need for clarifying the generic tools and terminology of the social sciences across the disciplines, as academics argue past each other, using identical terms but attaching different meanings to them. Secondly, this article presents the interrelationship between the core concepts …
Resilience and unemployment: A case study of East German women
This is the author's PDF version of an article published in German politics ©2005. The definitive version is available at http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/routledg/gp
Constructing Germany's Image in the British Press: An Empirical Analysis of Stereotypical Reporting on Germany
Germany's image in the UK has always been of intense interest to academics and politicians alike, but even more so since the end of the Second World War. A nation's image, usually constructed in great part by and through the media, can become, over time, part of a national political culture. For this reason we seek in the following article to analyse the reporting on Germany and the Germans of four UK national newspapers over time. Whilst many co…
The Decline of Mass Sport Provision in the German Democratic Republic
The German Democratic Republic's sports system, often termed a ‘sports miracle’, produced outstanding results in international sport. Drug abuse aside, this system appeared to be based on a robust and symbiotic relationship with mass sport, which was amply provided for by the state. Using unpublished letters sent by GDR citizens to the state authorities drawn from the Federal Archive in Berlin, this article sheds light on the miserable state of m…
From hobbyhorse to mainstream: Using sport to understand British politics
Behind the Iron Curtain: Football as a Site of Contestation in the East German Sports ‘Miracle’
Sport is employed as a lens through which one can understand better the social and political inner workings of dictatorship. This paper treats sport as a cultural institution within GDR (German Democratic Republic) society and sets out to complement the two broad paradigms used to study East Germany: the first, a broad approach under the umbrella of ‘Cold War histories’ and ‘totalitarianism theory’, usually focusing on the few; the second, a so-c…
Introducing ‘hard’ interpretivism and ‘Q’ methodology: Notes from a project on ‘county sport partnerships and governance’
These research notes from a ‘live’ project set about introducing two methodological aspects of research to scholars and students of leisure and sport. First, the meta‐theoretical underpinning of the live project is discussed and explained. This goes beyond a standard statement of the project’s epistemological position by emphasising the need to clarify work that lies ‘on the border’ between epistemologies. Second, the paper introduces a novel and…
Bringing Structures Back In: The ‘Governance Narrative’, the ‘Decentred Approach’ and ‘Asymmetrical Network Governance’ in the Education and Sport Policy Communities
We reflect upon the ‘governance narrative’ as a means of conceptualizing recent developments in the British state. Recent public administration research has advocated a ‘decentred approach’ that would reject the linear narrative of a shift from hierarchical to network governance. We seek to build on ‘decentring’ theorists' critique of existing governance literature by offering case studies of the education and sport policy communities, arguing th…
Revisiting the ‘Governance Narrative: Asymmetrical Network Governance’ and the Deviant Case of the Sports Policy Sector
This article offers an empirical counter-example to the tenets of the increasingly popular conceptualisation of British Politics and policy as having shifted from ‘big’ Government to governance by networks and partnerships. We point to the paradox in many policy sectors: an outward appearance of ‘new’ multi-agency governance that would appear to confirm the ‘governance narrative’. However, the underlying hierarchical power structures at work in s…
Centralized grassroots sport policy and 'new governance: A case study of County Sports Partnerships in the UK - unpacking the paradox
This article offers the first empirical account of the role of County Sport Partnerships (CSPs) in delivering grassroots sport policy in the UK. Current leading academic approaches to policy delivery in the UK suggest that we have witnessed a move from 'big' government to governance by and through networks and partnerships. Such a process is said to have led to a dispersal of power among many actors and diminished the ability of the state to cont…
Why do governments invest in elite sport? A polemic
Elite sport currently enjoys high levels of investment in many advanced capitalist countries. The primary aim of this piece is to introduce and unpack the reasons generally given by states for prioritizing and investing in elite sport. While our core focus is the UK sport policy sector, many of the discussions will be relevant for other, advanced liberal capitalist systems (e.g. Australia and Canada) and even the now defunct dictatorships (e.g. t…
Sports Mega-Events as Part of a Nation's Soft Power Strategy: The Cases of Germany (2006) and the UK (2012)
Research Highlights and Abstract The article discusses how states are increasingly using sports mega-events as part of their ‘soft power’ strategies The limited literature on ‘soft power’ and sports mega-events fails to either explain the concept and how it pertains to sport or provide examples that operationalize the concept empirically. Further research can build on the idea of sports mega-events being used for public diplomacy; the case of Ger…
Soft Power, Sports Mega-Events and Emerging States: The Lure of the Politics of Attraction
This article highlights and analyses a hitherto largely neglected dimension to the growing agency of large developing countries in global affairs: their hosting of international sports mega-events. Why are large developing countries hosting sports mega-events and what does this contemporary phenomenon tell us about the significance of, for example, the Olympics and the World Cup in global affairs? We explore these questions through brief examinat…
Sport Politics and the Olympics
Sport and politics have long been linked, but the Olympic Games represent the most political sports event of all. The following article focuses on two of the most important aspects of the Olympics (and sports ‘mega-events’ in general) that students of politics and international relations could make a major contribution towards: the use of the Olympics by states to showcase the host nation and the hoped-for ‘legacies’ that arise from them. Both as…
Leveraging legacies from sports mega-events: Concepts and cases
PART I: CONCEPTUAL ISSUES 1. From Legacy to Leverage Laurence Chalip 2. Megas for Strivers: the Politics of Second Order Events David Black 3. 'Legacy' Revisited Holger Preuss 4. Sports Mega-Events and Mass Participation in Sport Mike Weed 5. Neo-Liberalism and Sports Mega-Events Michael Silk PART II: PREVIOUS SPORTS MEGA-EVENT STRATEGIES 6. Sydney 2000 and Melbourne 2006: A Tale of Two Australian Cities Bob Stewart 7. 'Leaving Las Magas', or Can…
Leveraging Legacies from Sports Mega-Events
This volume offers a panoramic and interdisciplinary view of the growing field of Sports Mega-Event studies. Contributions explore leveraging strategies and the legacies from previous sports megas (Lo
Doping in bodybuilders: A qualitative investigation of facilitative psychosocial processes
The current study was designed to investigate the psychosocial processes that support PED use in bodybuilders utilising Bandura’s (1991) social cognitive theory of moral thought and action. Participants were nine bodybuilders who had previously used or were currently using illicit performance-enhancing substances. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted to investigate the psychological and social processes that facilitated their introd…
Doping in team and individual sports: A qualitative investigation of moral disengagement and associated processes
The current study qualitatively investigated psychosocial processes that support performance enhancing drug use in athletes from a range of sports, using Bandura’s social cognitive theory of moral thought and action as the guiding theoretical framework. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with twelve male athletes from a variety of sports who had used illicit performance enhancing substances within the previous two years. Interview…
Public health policy and walking in England—analysis of the 2008 ‘policy window’
Despite previous interest in walking promotion from the health and transport sectors, it was the recent alignment with the sports agenda that led to increased political commitment. This raises concerns that the research evidence on the health benefits of physical activity and rising levels of inactivity in England, are insufficient to secure government support and investment, and that multi-sector lobbying and joined-up political action may be cr…
Political science (42 works) · Sport and Mega-Event Impacts (32 works) · Law (31 works) · Sociology (30 works) · Politics (27 works) · Sports, Gender, and Society (24 works) · Law (22 works) · Economics (16 works) · Political economy (15 works) · History (12 works)