London 2012 provided a key insight into the shifting relationships between global, national and local as residents with no material stake in the Games came together to participate in their success. How might the power of this already-existing ‘commons’ pave the way for an alternative legacy? Read the article on the openDemocracy ezine: Beyond Carnival Capitalism … [Read more...] about Beyond Carnival Capitalism: London 2012 and its Legacy of Hope
East London and Post Olympics
Globalisation And Its Discontents, After 2012
There are a number of grand narratives within which the Olympics might be evaluated, each of which inscribes the project in a very different value nexus. Perhaps the dominant paradigm on the Left is that of globalisation. The Olympics, and sports in general, are read as symptomatic of larger economic forces at work in the society, of which globalisation is paramount . … [Read more...] about Globalisation And Its Discontents, After 2012
Where East Meets West: Gary’s Olympic Game
The transcript that follows is from an interview with Gary Carpenter then aged 18, who describes the people he met and incidents that happened while he was working with his dad as a riggers assistant. I first met the Carpenters during a health and safety induction session at the Carpenters Road site and subsequently conducted interviews with each of them separately and one with … [Read more...] about Where East Meets West: Gary’s Olympic Game
The Cultural Olympiad: Carrying the Torch for Art?
This text explores the cultural politics and poetics of the London Olympics. It begins by looking at the growth of ‘feel good’ art in the context of the economic recession. It goes on to discuss the contemporary role of poetry in public culture , and the relationship b between the aesthetics of sport and literature. It concluded with a detailed reading of the poetry … [Read more...] about The Cultural Olympiad: Carrying the Torch for Art?
On the Wrong Side of the Track? East London and the Post Olympics
On the Wrong Side of the Track draws on insights from the human sciences to challenge the arguments of Olympophiles for whom the Games can do no wrong as well as Olympophobes for whom they can do no right, using 2012 as a lens through which to examine underlying trends in contemporary culture. What did the 2012 Olympics tell us about who we are, who we were, and … [Read more...] about On the Wrong Side of the Track? East London and the Post Olympics