The negative impacts of hosting mega-events like the Olympic Games have been well documented in recent decades, by activists, scholars and journalists. In the face of regular critiques, event owners such as the International Olympic Committee and FIFA have instituted processes of reform, seeking to address criticisms linked to human rights and social and environmental sustainability. However, as the academic Jules Boykoff summarises, many of these reforms can be seen as “baby steps where bold strides are required”.
As such, civil society groups have increasingly contested mega-events, on local and global scales. In particular, a coalition of activist groups in host cities have called for “No Olympics Anywhere”, while human rights organisations have worked in coalition as the Sport and Rights Alliance to challenge event owners to respect human rights principles in the hosting of events. This event, following the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, brings together actors working on local and global scale to consider the future of mega-events. In particular, the debate will focus on some of the challenges associated with contemporary mega-events and why change is necessary. We will then move into a discussion of radical solutions for how they should change in the future – including whether such events should continue to exist at all. Finally, we will discuss the role of civil society in pushing for this change and how we can all contribute to developing more sustainable mega-events.
The Centre for Culture, Sport and Events (CCSE) at the University of the West of Scotland is delighted to invite you to the CCSE Talks Number 3, “Human Rights Impacts of the Olympic Games and the Necessity of Reform”, with Andrea Florence and Natsuko Sasaki.
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- ANDREA FLORENCE is an international human rights lawyer and Director of the Sport & Rights Alliance. Andrea has spearheaded global cross-movement campaigns leveraging sports to raise the bar for human rights both on and off the field – https://sportandrightsalliance.org/
- NATSUKO SASAKI is a Japanese writer and translator. Her most recent work is “Paris and the Olympics (Pari to Gorin パリと五輪)”, published in July 2024. She is also a member of a Paris based anti-Olympic group Saccage 2024 (saccage2024.noblogs.org/).
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The event is free, but you need to book a spot – here!
