The Olympic games : a social science approach / Kristine Toohey and A.J. Veal.

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

This book is unique in that it is the first to provide a comprehensive, critical analysis of the contemporary sporting and cultural phenomenon that is the Olympic Games. It draws on a range of social science perspectives, including sociology, political science, history and economics and highlights the critical issues relating to the Games. The book examines the role of politics and nationalism in the development of the Games, the economics and financing of the Games, roles that the mass media has played, control of performance enhancing drugs, equity and women's participation and other fascinating aspects of one of the rare cultural events that is shared by many nations.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• List of tables (p. ix)
• List of figures (p. xi)
• List of abbreviations (p. xii)
• Preface (p. xiii)
• 1 Introduction: Studying the Olympic Games (p. 1)
• The phenomenon of the Olympic Games (p. 1)
• The Olympic Games as an object of academic enquiry (p. 2)
• Disciplinary perspectives (p. 2)
• Paradigms (p. 3)
• Structure of the book (p. 5)
• The Olympic Games - more than a sporting event (p. 6)
• Further reading (p. 8)
• Notes (p. 8)
• Questions (p. 8)
• 2 The Ancient Olympics and their Relevance to the Modern Games (p. 9)
• Introduction (p. 9)
• Myths about the ancient Olympic Games (p. 10)
• A short history of the ancient Olympic Games (p. 11)
• The events (p. 13)
• History - politics (p. 19)
• Amateurism and professionalism (p. 20)
• Women (p. 22)
• The demise of the Games (p. 23)
• Conclusion (p. 24)
• Further reading (p. 24)
• Questions (p. 25)
• 3 The Revival of the Olympic Games (p. 26)
• Introduction (p. 26)
• The interregnum (p. 27)
• Greece (p. 29)
• England (p. 30)
• North America (p. 33)
• France and Germany (p. 34)
• Pierre de Coubertin (p. 35)
• Summary (p. 38)
• Further reading (p. 39)
• Questions (p. 40)
• 4 The Modern Olympic Phenomenon (p. 41)
• Introduction (p. 41)
• Olympism (p. 42)
• The Olympic Movement (p. 44)
• Olympic organisation (p. 45)
• The International Olympic Committee (p. 45)
• IOC Commissions (p. 53)
• Symbols and ceremonial (p. 61)
• The bidding process and host city selection (p. 65)
• Hosting the Games (p. 68)
• Cultural programme (p. 70)
• The Winter Olympics (p. 71)
• Local opposition (p. 71)
• Evaluation and reporting (p. 73)
• After it's all over: the legacy of the Games (p. 74)
• Competing and related events (p. 76)
• Conclusions (p. 82)
• Further reading (p. 82)
• Questions (p. 83)
• 5 Politics, Nationalism and the Olympic Movement (p. 84)
• Introduction (p. 84)
• Politics (p. 84)
• Olympic Games and politics (p. 87)
• Internal politics of the host nation (p. 87)
• Opposing political ideologies (p. 91)
• Nationalism (p. 102)
• Political demonstrations, terrorism and security at the Games (p. 106)
• IOC politics (p. 114)
• Conclusion (p. 118)
• Further reading (p. 120)
• Questions (p. 120)
• 6 The Economics and Financing of the Games (p. 121)
• Introduction (p. 121)
• Political economy (p. 122)
• Financing the Olympic Movement (p. 126)
• Funding individual Olympic Games (p. 131)
• Economic impact (p. 138)
• Further Reading (p. 144)
• Questions (p. 144)
• 7 The Olympics and the Mass Media (p. 145)
• Introduction (p. 145)
• The relationship between the Olympics and the mass media (p. 147)
• The nature of Olympic television broadcasts (p. 150)
• History of Olympic television coverage (p. 153)
• Host broadcasters (p. 157)
• The Internet (p. 159)
• Radio (p. 164)
• Film (p. 165)
• Olympic-related novels (p. 166)
• Conclusion (p. 167)
• Further reading (p. 167)
• Questions (p. 167)
• 8 Doping and the Olympics (p. 168)
• Introduction (p. 168)
• Some modern performance-enhancing substances (p. 170)
• Arguments for and against drug use (p. 173)
• History of drug use in the Olympics (p. 175)
• The IOC Medical Commission (p. 179)
• The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) (p. 179)
• Categories of IOC prohibited substances (p. 180)
• Athletes' obligations and doping control (p. 182)
• Anti-doping procedures for Turin, 2006 (p. 183)
• Episodes in sport, the Olympics and drug use (p. 185)
• The future (p. 191)
• Summary (p. 192)
• Further reading (p. 193)
• Questions (p. 193)
• 9 Women and the Olympic Games (p. 194)
• Women and sport (p. 194)
• Research (p. 196)
• Women in the Olympic Games (p. 197)
• Introduction of women's sports to the Olympic programme (p. 198)
• The twenty-first century (p. 202)
• Women in the administration of the Olympics (p. 204)
• The media and women in the Olympic Games (p. 206)
• Eleanor Holm Jarrett: a case study of a female Olympic athlete (p. 210)
• Gender verification, or sex testing (p. 216)
• Conclusion (p. 219)
• Further reading (p. 221)
• Questions (p. 221)
• 10 Case Studies of the Summer Olympic Games (p. 222)
• Introduction (p. 222)
• Barcelona 1992 (p. 223)
• Atlanta 1996 (p. 231)
• Sydney 2000 (p. 237)
• Athens 2004 (p. 252)
• Beijing 2008 (p. 255)
• London 2012 (p. 258)
• Further reading (p. 261)
• Questions (p. 262)
• Appendix 10.1 The Games of the modern era (p. 263)
• Appendix 10.2 Items for a cost-benefit study of the Games (p. 272)
• 11 The Future of the Olympic Games (p. 274)
• Introduction (p. 274)
• The environment of the Games (p. 276)
• The organisation of the Games (p. 282)
• The past, present and future of the Olympic Games (p. 287)
• Further reading (p. 287)
• Questions (p. 287)
• Appendix I Websites, Films, Videos, CDs, DVDs (p. 288)
• References (p. 291)
• Index (p. 330)