Olympiads as Mega-events and the Pace of Globalization: Beijing 2008 in Context

This article is about the relationship between the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and 2004-8 Beijing Olympiad as mega-events and the processes of globalisation, on the one hand, and the progress of the post-Cold War new world order, on the other. The article outlines the globalisational approach to conceptualising, analysing and making sense of mega-events in general and the Beijing Olympiad in particular; and suggests that the Beijing Olympiad was the greatest mega-event of all time, and is likely to remain the greatest mega-event for the foreseeable future, over-shadowing for instance the London Olympiad. The author argues that the 2008 Games were awarded (by the West) to Beijing as a reward for the PRC both coming outside and coming onside as a capitalist social formation; for the PRC having embraced mainstays of the Western cultural account and, above all, of Western-style capitalism (albeit with Chinese characteristics); for the PRC having peacefully abandoned its ideological struggle against capitalism and its Cold War stand-off with the West; and for the PRC having in effect sealed the fate of historical materialism, the old world order, and the second phase of globalisation. The Beijing Games and Olympiad are likely to remain extra special in that they were a coming-out party not just for the PRC, but also for the world as a whole; for the international community; and for the emerging global community. They were a celebration of the transitions to the new world order in conjunction the current third stage of globalisation, marked by a major advance in the Western-led drive towards a single global social space.

Notes

[1] FIFA, the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (or the International Federation of Association Football) is the international governing body of association football. It is responsible for organizing football's major international tournaments, above all the FIFA World Cup. It has 208 member associations, 16 more members than the UN and three more than the IOC, but five fewer than the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF).

[2] The prefix ‘mega-’ comes from the Greek word megas, meaning great (Peasall, Concise Oxford Dictionary, 886). It means ‘abnormally large’ (‘mega-’, MedicineNet.com. available online at http://www.medterms.com/, accessed 21 Jan. 2009), or denotes ‘surpassing other examples of its kind’ (‘mega-’, Answers.com. available online at http://www.answers.com/topic/mega, accessed 5 Dec. 2008).

[3] What comes to mind is the word ‘elephantine’, meaning of extraordinary size and power (Answers.com, available online at http://www.answers.com/topic/elephantine, accessed 5 Feb. 2009).

[4] Aguilar et al., ‘Globalization, Regional Development, and Mega-city Expansion’.

[5] Ohmae, The Borderless World; Ohmae,The End of the Nation State.

[6] See Baylis and Smith, The Globalization of World Politics.

[7] Cf. Berger and Huntington, Many Globalizations.

[8] Ohmae, The Borderless World.

[9] Robertson, Globalization; Scholte, Globalization; Close et al., The Beijing Olympiad, 34.

[10] Close, ‘Regional Integration the East Asian Way’.

[11] Ibid.

[12] Axford, The Global System; Meyer et al., ‘Ontology and Rationalization’.

[13] Close and Askew, Asia Pacific and Human Rights, 243–4; Close et al., The Beijing Olympiad, 35.

[14] See Wilson and Purushothaman, ‘Dreaming with BRICs’; Jain, Emerging Economies.

[15] Aguilar et al., ‘Globalization, Regional Development, and Mega-city Expansion’.

[16] See also Andranovich et al., ‘Olympic Cities’.

[17] Short, ‘Going for Gold’; see also Axford, The Global System; Baylis and Smith, The Globalization of World Politics; Held et al., Global Transformations.

[18] Short, ‘Going for Gold’.

[19] Ibid.

[20] Roche, Mega-Events and Modernity; ‘Mega-events, Time and Modernity’; ‘Mega-events and Modernity Revisited’.

[21] Roche, Mega-Events and Modernity, 1.

[22] Roche, ‘Mega-events, Time and Modernity’, 99.

[23] Ibid., 99–101.

[24] Ibid., 100–1.

[25] Ibid.

[26] Ibid., 100.

[27] Ibid., 99.

[28] Horne and Manzenreiter, Japan, Korea and the 2002 World Cup.

[29] Tomlinson and Young, National Identity and Global Sports Events.

[30] Horne and Manzenreiter, Japan, Korea and the 2002 World Cup, 187.

[31] Short, ‘Going for Gold’.

[32] Roche, ‘Mega-events, Time and Modernity’, 99.

[33] John Short refers to 199 countries (Short, ‘Going for Gold’), but he might have referred to 199 countries and territories.

[34] Short, ‘Going for Gold’.

[35] Ibid.

[36] Roche, ‘Mega-events, Time and Modernity’, 100–1.

[37] Ibid., 99.

[38] Andranovich et al., ‘Olympic Cities’, 118.

[39] Short, ‘Going for Gold’.

[40] All NOCs apart from one, that of Brunei, participated in the 2008 summer Olympic Games.

[41] Close et al., The Beijing Olympiad.

[42] Ibid., 21–44.

[43] On the coming-out view of Asian Olympic Games, see Black and Bezanson, ‘The Olympic Games, Human Rights and Democratisation’; Gottwald and Duggan, ‘China's Economic Development’; Levine, ‘A Golden Opportunity’; Manheim, ‘Rites of Passage’.

[44] Gottwald and Duggan, ‘China's Economic Development’, 339.

[45] See Close and Ohki-Close, Supranationalism in the New World Order.

[46] See ‘Past Results’, GamesBids.com, available online at http://www.gamesbids.com/english/archives/past.shtml, accessed 6 Feb. 2009.

[47] See Close and Askew, Asia Pacific and Human Rights.

[48]‘China Leaves Nothing to Chance’, National Post (Canada), 11 July 2008, available online at http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=648855, accessed 23 Sept. 2010.

[49] Short, ‘Going for Gold’.

[50] See Sky Sports, ‘Medals Table’, 24 Aug. 2008, available online at http://msnsport.skysports.com, accessed 23 Sept. 2010.

[51] Short, ‘Going for Gold’.

[52] Australian Bureau of Statistics, ‘Australia Finishes Third’. ABS, 30 Aug. 2004, available online at http://abs.gov.au/, accessed 23 Sept. 2010.

[53] Kelly, ‘Asia Pride, China Fear’.

[54]‘Upper-middle Income Magic’, Business Standard (New Delhi), 10 Aug. 2008, available online at http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/editorial-upper-middle-income-magic/330930/, accessed 23 Sept. 2010.

[55] Ibid.

[56] S. Bery, ‘The Next Twenty Years’, Business Standard (New Delhi), 13 Aug. 2008, available online at http://www.ncaer.org/downloads/MediaClips/Press/sumanbery-nexttwentyyears.pdf, accessed 23 Sept. 2010.

[57] Ibid.; see also Maddison, The World Economy.

[58]‘Upper-middle Income Magic’.

[59] R. Dhoot, ‘Beijing Olympics Draws 4.7 Billion Television Viewers’, Top News, 5 Sept. 2008, available online at http://www.topnews.in/sports/beijing-olympics-draws-4-7-billion-television-viewers-24445, accessed 23 Sept. 2010

[60] Ibid. See also BOCOG, ‘Global TV Viewing of Athens 2004 Olympic Games Breaks Records’, 12 Oct. 2004, available online at http://en.beijing2008.cn/16/87/article211928716.shtml, accessed 23 Sept. 2010; ‘4.7 Billion Saw Olympics: Nielsen’. Japan Times, 7 Sept. 2008, available online at http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/so20080907a1.html, accessed 23 Sept. 2010; Nielsen Company, ‘The Most Viewed Olympics Ever’, 24 Aug. 2008, available online at http://en-us.nielsen.com/main/news/news_releases/2008/august/the_most_viewed_olympics; Nielsen Company, ‘Beijing Olympics Draw Largest Ever Global TV Audience’, 5 Sept. 2008, available online at http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/media_entertainment/beijing-olympics-draw-largest-ever-global-tv-audience/, accessed 23 Sept. 2010.

[61] On ‘Pacific Asia, see Mark Borthwick, Pacific Century; Fu-chen Lo, Emerging World Cities in Pacific Asia; Xiaoming Huang, Politics in Pacific Asia; Yumei Zhang, Pacific Asia. On ‘East Asia’, see EASG, Final Report; Shiraishi, ‘Regional Cooperation in East Asia’; Temple University, ‘East Asia’; Terada, Constructing an “East Asian” Concept’.

[62] See Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), ‘About Us’, available online at http://www.apec.org/, accessed 4 Dec. 2009; see also Connors et al., The New Global Politics; Eccleston et al., The Asia-Pacific Profile.

[63] See ERINA, ‘Maps of Northeast Asia’.

[64] For the sake of convenience, by ‘China’ is meant the People's Republic of China (PRC) plus the Special Administrative Region (SAR) of Hong Kong, the SAR of Macau and the Republic of China (otherwise known as Taiwan or Chinese Taipei).

[65] ERINA, ‘Maps of Northeast Asia’, 2009.

[66] See APEC, ‘About Us’; see also UNSD (United Nations Statistics Division), ‘Composition of Macro Geographical (Continental) Regions, Geographical Sub-regions, and Selected Economic and Other Groupings’, 15 April 2009, available online at http://millenniumindicators.un.org/unsd/methods/m49/m49regin.htm#oceania, accessed 23 Sept. 2010..

[67] See Close and Askew, Asia Pacific and Human Rights; Close and Askew, ‘Globalisation and Football in East Asia’; Close et al., The Beijing Olympiad.

[68] Nielsen Company, ‘Opening Ceremony Draws 2 Billion Global Viewers’, 14 Aug. 2008, available online at http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/media_entertainment/beijing-opening-ceremonys-global-tv-audience-hit-2-billion/, accessed 23 Sept. 2010.

[69] K. Sharma, ‘Nearly One in Three Worldwide Watched Olympics Opener’, Top News, 14 Aug. 2008, available online at http://www.topnews.in/sports/nearly-one-three-worldwide-watched-olympics-opener-survey-23186, accessed 23 Sept. 2010.

[70] Nielsen Company, ‘Beijing Olympics Draw Largest Ever Global Audience’.

[71] Kelly, ‘Asia Pride, China Fear’; see also Mangan and Dyreson., Olympic Legacies.

[72] Cindy Sui, ‘What Will China's Olympic Legacy Be?’. NewKerela.com, 25 Aug. 2008, available online at http://www.newkerala.com/topstory-fullnews-14612.html">http://www.newkerala.com/topstory-fullnews-14612.html, accessed 23 Sept. 2010.

[73] Ibid.; see also ‘China After the Olympics’, All About China, Aug. 2008, available online at http://www.radio86.co.uk/china-insight/, accessed 23 Sept. 2010.

[74] G. Geeraerts, ‘After the Games: China's Olympic Legacy’, All About China, Aug. 2008, available online at http://www.radio86.co.uk/china-insight/world-viewpoints/9348/top-events-of-2008-after-the-games-chinas-olympic-legacy, accessed 23 Sept. 2010.

[75] Asia One (Singapore), ‘Olympics Helped to Open Chinese Society’, All About China, Aug. 2008, available online at http://www.radio86.co.uk/china-insight/, accessed 23 Sept. 2010.

[76]Los Angeles Times, ‘“The Best Olympics Ever”– Now What?’, All About China, Aug. 2008, available online at http://www.radio86.co.uk/china-insight/world-viewpoints/9348/top-events-of-2008-after-the-games-chinas-olympic-legacy, accessed 23 Sept. 2010.

[77] Jaquelin Magnay, ‘Beijing Gloss Fades After Going Through the Wringer’, Sydney Morning Herald, 28 Aug. 2008, available online at http://www.radio86.co.uk/china-insight/world-viewpoints/9348/top-events-of-2008-after-the-games-chinas-olympic-legacy, accessed 23 Sept. 2010.

[78] See Amnesty International, ‘China: Legacy of the Beijing Olympics’, 26 Feb. 2008; Amnesty International, ‘China: Free Thwarted Olympics PetitionerJi Sizun’, 5 May 2009, both available online at http://www.amnesty.org/, accessed 23 Sept. 2010; also ‘China: Beyond the Games’, Financial Times, 4 Aug. 2008, available online at http://www.ft.com/, accessed 23 Sept. 2010.

[79] Close and Askew, Asia Pacific and Human Rights.

[80] Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), ‘Status of Ratification’, 16 Nov. 2009, available online at http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/docs/HRChart.xls, accessed 23 Sept. 2010; see also OHCHR, ‘International Law’, 2007.

[81]‘Beijing Claims Profit on 2008 Olympics’, Japan Times, 20 June 2009, available online at http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/so20090620a2.html, accessed 23 Sept. 2010.

[82] Reuters, ‘For Sponsors, Games Were Money Well Spent’, 25 Aug. 2008, available online at http://www.reuters.com/article/GCA-Olympics/idUSSP1708120080825, accessed 23 Sept. 2010. In 2010, ‘Shanghai will host the 2010 World Expo, replacing the Olympic “One World, One Dream” motto for the Expo's catchphrase of “Better City, Better Life”’ (D. Gardner, ‘China's Olympic Legacy’, Aljazeera.net, 25 Aug. 2008, available online at http://english. aljazeera.net/focus/beijing08/2008/08/20088255274440438.html, accessed 23 Sept. 2010).

[83] A. Naidu, ‘China May Avert the “Olympics Curse”’, Outlook Business, 6 Sept. 2008, available online at http://business.outlookindia.com/printarticle.aspx?101450, accessed 23 Sept. 2010.

[84] Ibid.

[85] Gardner, ‘China's Olympic Legacy’, Al Jazeera, 25 August 2008. Available online at http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/beijing08/2008/08/20088255274440438.html, accessed 23 Sept. 2010.

[86] Ibid.

[87] Ibid.

[88] Ibid.

[89] Ibid.; see also Pew Research Center, ‘The Chinese Celebrate’.

[90] Gardner, ‘China's Olympic Legacy’, Al Jazeera, 25 August 2008. Available online at http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/beijing08/2008/08/20088255274440438.html, accessed 23 Sept. 2010.

[91] Ibid.

[92] Kelly, ‘Asia Pride, China Fear’, 2009.

[93]‘Competition among Japanese cities for the right to mount a 2016 bid began in 2004, and the Japan IOC settled on Tokyo on August 30, 2006’: Kelly, ‘Asia Pride, China Fear’.

[94] Ibid.

[95] Ibid.

[96] Ibid.; see also Farrer, ‘One Bed, Different Dreams’, 2008.

[97] See ‘Japan Eager for U.S. to Keep Nuke Deterrence’, Japan Times, 24 Nov. 2009, available online at http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20091124a1.html, accessed 23 Sept. 2010: ‘The shift in political power in September [in Japan following the parliamentary general election], Japan aggressively lobbied a US congressional nuclear task force to maintain the credibility of the US “nuclear umbrella” to deter possible attacks by China and North Korea, sources said Monday.’

[98] Kelly, ‘Asia Pride, China Fear’.

[99] Ibid.; see also Nathan, Japan Unbound; Sherif, ‘The Aesthetics of Speed’.

[100] Kelly, ‘Asia Pride, China Fear’.

[101] Ibid.; see also Leheny, Think Global; Harootunian, Japan After Japan.

[102] Kelly, ‘Asia Pride, China Fear’.

[103]‘Over the next 50 years, Brazil, Russia, India and China – the BRIC economies – could become a much larger force in the world economy. … If things go right, in less than 40 years, the BRIC economies together could be larger than the G6 in US dollar terms. By 2025 they could account for over half the size of the G6. Currently they are worth less than 15%. Of the current G6, only the US and Japan may be among the six largest economies in US dollar terms in 2050’ (Wilson and Purushothaman, ‘Dreaming with BRICs’).

[104]‘The BRICSAM countries are a group of large developing economies whose elevated economic growth and growing regional and international influence will have ripple effects on the world. Not only will these countries experience significant changes as a result of their economic and political rise, but the BRICSAM countries are also likely to be the beneficiaries of this change as the global economic balance of power shifts away from the industrialized countries’ (CIGI, ‘BRICSAM’). Brazil has been selected by FIFA to host the 2014 World Cup, and in December 2009 the Japanese government decided to support a bid by Japan to host either the 2018 or the 2022 event (see J. Hongo, ‘Cabinet OKs Move to Pursue World Cup’, Japan Times, 10 Dec. 2009, available online at http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20091209a4.html, accessed 23 Sept. 2010.

[105] Games Bids, ‘South Africa Considers 2002 Bid’, available online at http://www.gamesbids.com/eng/olympic_bids/future_bids_2016/1216134798.html, accessed 22 Oct. 2009.

[106]Games Bids, ‘Tokyo to Bid for 2020 Summer Games’, available online at http://www.gamesbids.com/eng/olympic_bids/future_bids_2016/1216134834.html, accessed 7 Nov. 2009.

[107] See Close, ‘Regional Integration the East Asian Way’ (Nov. 2008); Close, ‘Regional Integration the East Asian Way’ (Dec. 2008); EAVG, ‘Towards an East Asian Community’; Kim, ‘Regionalization and Regionalism’.