The multilevel identity politics of the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest

Datos Bibliográficos

ID7528022
AutoresGalia Press-Barnathan, Galia Press‐barnathan (0000-0003-3909-4641, autor de correspondencia), Naama Lutz (0000-0002-4661-8522)
Año2020
Volumen96
Número3
Páginas729-748
Fecha de publicación2020-03-20
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaInternational Affairs (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0020-5850 • E-ISSN: 1468-2346
EditorialOxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1093/ia/iiaa004
OpenAlexW3012139078
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas20

This article uses the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) that took place in Tel Aviv to explore how cultural mega-events serve both as political arenas and as tools for identity construction, negotiation and contestation. These processes of identity politics are all conducted across national–subnational–international–transnational levels. The hosting of mega-events fleshes out these multiple processes in a very strong manner. We first discuss the politics of hosting mega-events in general. We then examine the identity politics associated more specifically with the Eurovision Song Contest, before examining in depth the complex forms of identity politics emerging around the competition following the 2018 Israeli victory. We suggest that it is important to study together the multiple processes—domestic, international and transnational—of identity politics that take place around the competition, as they interact with each other. Consequently, we follow the various stakeholders involved at these different levels and their interactions. We examine the internal identity negotiation process in Israel surrounding the event, the critical actors debating how to use the stage to challenge the liberal, western, ‘normal’ identity Israel hoped to project in the contest and how other stakeholders (participating states, national broadcasting agencies, participating artists) reacted to them, and finally we examine the behaviour of the institution in charge, the European Broadcasting Union, and national governments. We contribute to the study of mega-events as fields of contestation, to the understanding of the complex, multilevel nature of national identity construction, negotiation and contestation in the current era, and more broadly to the role that popular culture plays in this context

Collective identity · Competition (biology · CONTEST · Identity (music · Identity politics · Media studies · Negotiation · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Victory · Asian Culture and Media Studies · Gender Studies · Jewish and Middle Eastern Studies · Law · Public Administration · Soviet and Russian History