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The Regeneration Games: Commodities, Gifts and the Economics of London 2012*.

Authors :
Macrury, Iain
Poynter, Gavin
Source :
International Journal of the History of Sport; Dec2008, Vol. 25 Issue 14, p2072-2090, 19p
Publication Year :
2008

Abstract

This paper considers contradictions between two concurrent and tacit conceptions of the Olympic 'legacy', setting out one conception that understands the games and their legacies as gifts alongside and as counterpoint to the prevailing discourse, which conceives Olympic assets as commodities. The paper critically examines press and governmental discussion of legacy, in order to locate these in the context of a wider perspective contrasting 'gift' and 'commodity' Olympics - setting anthropological conceptions of gift-based sociality as a necessary supplement to contractual and dis-embedded socio-economic organizational assumptions underpinning the commodity Olympics. Cost-benefit planning is central to modern city building and mega-event delivery. The paper considers the insufficiency of this approach as the exclusive paradigm within which to frame and manage a dynamic socio-economic and cultural legacy arising from the 2012 games. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
09523367
Volume :
25
Issue :
14
Database :
Complementary Index
Journal :
International Journal of the History of Sport
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
35168449
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1080/09523360802439254