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Olympic Perspectives

Author : Stephan Wassong

Publisher : Routledge

Page : 153 pages

File Size : 38,81 MB

Release : 2018-10-11

Category : Sports & Recreation

ISBN : 1351856766

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Book Description

Historical research on the Olympic Movement is highly valuable as it displays processes of continuity and transformation by which knowledge building processes on the Olympic Movement, its structure and on Olympic sport can be expanded. The Olympic Movement can be addressed from multidisciplinary perspectives, including management, sociology, education, philosophy and history. This comprehensive collection examines the multifaceted profile of the Olympic and Paralympic Movement and presents new insights drawn from a variety of research projects. Historical and political dimensions of the Olympic and Paralympic Movement are addressed, along with educational, ethical, commercial and sociological perspectives. This book was originally published as a special issue of The International Journal of the History of Sport.



Onward to the Olympics

Author : Gerald P. Schaus

Publisher : Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press

Page : 406 pages

File Size : 40,20 MB

Release : 2009-08-02

Category : Sports & Recreation

ISBN : 1554587794

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Book Description

The Olympic Games have had two lives—the first lasted for a millennium with celebrations every four years at Olympia to honour the god Zeus. The second has blossomed over the past century, from a simple start in Athens in 1896 to a dazzling return to Greece in 2004. Onward to the Olympics provides both an overview and an array of insights into aspects of the Games’ history. Leading North American archaeologists and historians of sport explore the origins of the Games, compare the ancient and the modern, discuss the organization and financing of such massive athletic festivals, and examine the participation ,or the troubling lack of it, by women. Onward to the Olympics bridges the historical divide between the ancient and the modern and concludes with a thought-provoking final essay that attempts to predict the future of the Olympics over the twenty-first century.



The Olympic Games

Author : Kristine Toohey

Publisher : CABI

Page : 362 pages

File Size : 32,62 MB

Release : 2007

Category : Sports & Recreation

ISBN : 184593346X

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Book Description

The Olympic Games: A Social Science Perspective presents a broad, multi-disciplinary account of all things Olympic from the relationship of the modern to the ancient games, to the possible future of the grandest of athletic spectacles. This extended new edition covers the Olympic phenomenon from political, economical and sociological perspectives, from its history and the media to commercialism and drug use. Its detailed analyses and extensive bibliography make it essential reading for researchers and students in leisure and sports studies.



Olympic Reform Ten Years Later

Author : Heather Dichter

Publisher : Routledge

Page : 129 pages

File Size : 50,74 MB

Release : 2013-09-13

Category : Sports & Recreation

ISBN : 113570600X

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Book Description

In 1999, the International Olympic Committee approved far-reaching reforms to the appointment and terms of its members, the selection of host cities for the Olympic and Winter Olympic Games, the events on the Olympic Program, and the reporting of decisions and financial information. The reforms were initiated in response to the deep crises of legitimacy it faced because of the Salt Lake City doping scandal and ongoing accusations that it turned a blind eye to doping. This book assesses the implementation and effectiveness of those reforms ten years after. It draws upon the perspectives of Olympic scholars, Olympic athletes, and IOC members, including those who were directly involved in the reform process, and makes a number of recommendations about how the process of Olympic reform could be maintained and strengthened. As such, it provides an insightful and telling report card on the modern Olympic Movement in the first decade of the 21st century, and the presidency of Jacques Rogge. This book was originally published as a special issue of Sport in Society.



Power Games

Author : Jules Boykoff

Publisher : Verso Books

Page : 392 pages

File Size : 44,14 MB

Release : 2016-05-17

Category : Sports & Recreation

ISBN : 1784780731

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Book Description

A timely, no-holds barred, critical political history of the modern Olympic Games The Olympics have a checkered, sometimes scandalous, political history. Jules Boykoff, a former US Olympic team member, takes readers from the event’s nineteenth-century origins, through the Games’ flirtation with Fascism, and into the contemporary era of corporate control. Along the way he recounts vibrant alt-Olympic movements, such as the Workers’ Games and Women’s Games of the 1920s and 1930s as well as athlete-activists and political movements that stood up to challenge the Olympic machine.



The Olympics and Philosophy

Author : Heather Lynne Reid

Publisher : University Press of Kentucky

Page : 310 pages

File Size : 46,98 MB

Release : 2012-06-21

Category : Political Science

ISBN : 0813136482

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Book Description

In 1973, Wilson Carey McWilliams (1933Ð2005) published The Idea of Fraternity in America, a groundbreaking book that argued for an alternative to AmericaÕs dominant philosophy of liberalism. This alternative tradition emphasized that community and fraternal bonds were as vital to the process of maintaining political liberty as was individual liberty. McWilliams expanded on this idea throughout his prolific career as a teacher, writer, and activist, promoting a unique definition of American democracy. In The Democratic Soul: A Wilson Carey McWilliams Reader, editors Patrick J. Deneen and Susan J. McWilliams, daughter of the famed intellectual, have assembled key essays, articles, reviews, and lectures that trace McWilliamsÕs evolution as a scholar and explain his often controversial views on education, religion, and literature. The book also showcases his thoughts and opinions on prominent twentieth-century figures such as George Orwell and Leo Strauss. The first comprehensive volume of Wilson Carey McWilliamsÕ collected writings, The Democratic Soul will be welcomed by scholars of political science and American political thought as a long-overdue contribution to the field.



The Olympic Movement and the Sport of Peacemaking

Author : Ramón Spaaij

Publisher : Routledge

Page : 184 pages

File Size : 27,35 MB

Release : 2016-04-22

Category : Political Science

ISBN : 1134904916

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Book Description

Sport and peacemaking have evolved. It is no longer the case that the Olympic Games and war games exist in isolation from each other. Increasingly, policymakers, peacekeepers, athletes, development workers, presidents of nations and others combine forces in an "integrated" approach towards peace. This approach is located not only within the broader, historically evolved Olympic Movement but also in relation to a newly emerged social movement which promotes development and peace through sport. This book critically examines the ways in which this development is being played out at global, national and local levels, particularly in relation to the Olympic Movement and initiatives such as the biennial Olympic Truce Resolution. The volume constitutes a unique scholarly attempt to provide an in-depth comparative analysis of the sport of peacemaking in the context of the Olympic Movement. Through international comparison and empirically grounded case studies, the book provides an important new departure in the study of the social impact of the Olympic Movement and related peacemaking efforts. It discusses these issues from a range of academic disciplines, including history, sociology, political science, economics, geography, philosophy and international relations. This book was previously published as a special issue of Sport in Society.



Recent Evolutions and Perspectives in Olympic Winter Sports Performance: to PyeongChang and Beyond…

Author : Gianluca Vernillo

Publisher : Frontiers Media SA

Page : 175 pages

File Size : 31,59 MB

Release : 2019-07-19

Category :

ISBN : 2889459233

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Book Description

An evidence-based scientific understanding of factors determining Olympic winter sports performance, recent changes, the evolution in training content and methods, the improvement in technology as well as the occurrence of injury and illness is required. On one hand, this would provide the opportunity to translate research to practice. On the other hand, to guide the practice of Olympic winter sports with the ultimate goal of improving the performance. Certainly, the continued evolution of Olympic winter sports has contributed to an enormous accumulation of knowledge, evidence, and relevant training technologies. Sports sciences, including physiology, conditioning, nutrition, biomechanics, coaching, psychology, as well as sport technology, history and social sciences, have much to contribute to the preparation of the athletes in the Olympic winter sports. Consequently, this Research Topic sought to provide a platform of contributions to set out a comprehensive framework of the components that should be addressed when developing training plans leading to elite Olympic winter sports performance. Overall, the papers were all directed toward a better understanding of physiological, biomechanical, and training factors related to different Olympic winter sports disciplines: cross-country skiing, alpine skiing, biathlon, Nordic combined, speed skating, snowboarding, and ski-cross.



The Rise and Fall of Olympic Amateurism

Author : Matthew P Llewellyn

Publisher : University of Illinois Press

Page : 371 pages

File Size : 20,36 MB

Release : 2016-08-15

Category : Sports & Recreation

ISBN : 0252098773

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Book Description

For decades, amateurism defined the ideals undergirding the Olympic movement. No more. Today's Games present athletes who enjoy open corporate sponsorship and unabashedly compete for lucrative commercial endorsements. Matthew P. Llewellyn and John Gleaves analyze how this astonishing transformation took place. Drawing on Olympic archives and a wealth of research across media, the authors examine how an elite--white, wealthy, often Anglo-Saxon--controlled and shaped an enormously powerful myth of amateurism. The myth assumed an air of naturalness that made it seem unassailable and, not incidentally, served those in power. Llewellyn and Gleaves trace professionalism's inroads into the Olympics from tragic figures like Jim Thorpe through the shamateur era of under-the-table cash and state-supported athletes. As they show, the increasing acceptability of professionals went hand-in-hand with the Games becoming a for-profit international spectacle. Yet the myth of amateurism's purity remained a potent force, influencing how people around the globe imagined and understood sport. Timely and vivid with details, The Rise and Fall of Olympic Amateurism is the first book-length examination of the movement's foundational ideal.



The Olympics

Author : Vassil Girginov

Publisher : Taylor & Francis

Page : 663 pages

File Size : 26,96 MB

Release : 2023-05-09

Category : Sports & Recreation

ISBN : 1000938611

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Book Description

The Olympics: A Critical Reader represents a unique, critical guide to the definitive sporting mega-event and the wider phenomenon it represents – Olympism. Combining classic texts and thoughtful editorial discussion with challenging new pieces, including previously unseen material, the book systematically addresses the key questions in modern Olympism, including: what does studying Olympism entail? how do historical accounts create and challenge Olympic myths? how do different theoretical perspectives inform our understanding of Olympism? which socio-political processes influence personal, collective and imagined Olympic identities? how do we experience and make sense of Olympism? who owns Olympism and why does it matter? how do cities compete for and celebrate the Olympics? how are the Olympic values promoted? why is it important to protect the ethical principles and properties of Olympism? what are the grounds for contesting Olympism? how can Olympism be taught? how can the principles and practices of Olympism be sustained in the future? Each thematic part has been designed to include a range of views, including background treatment of an issue as well as critical scholarship, to ensure that students develop a well-rounded understanding of the Olympic phenomenon. The Olympics: A Critical Reader is essential reading for students of the Olympics and Olympism, the sociology of sport, sport management and cultural studies.