The glocalizing duality of contemporary sport

Abstract

This paper assesses the current debate, in the sphere of the sociology of sport, on globalization and sport, arguing that the advance of world sport now, at the beginning of the twenty-first century, is better understood in terms of the phenomenon of glocalization, that is, as a process by which global demands and forces conform or adapt to local conditions (Robertson), contributing in this way to the production of ‘township’ and ‘community’ and to the emergence of national identities. The 1992 Barcelona Olympics, the 1993 European Football Championship and the 2002 Korea-Japan World Football Cup are presented as examples of the dual and paradoxical character of contemporary sport in its capacity to reinforce localnational identities while increasingly promoting worldwide mega-events.

Keywords:

• globalization
• glocalization
• mondialization
• sports mega-events
• local-national identities

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Manuel García Ferrando

Manuel García Ferrando is a Professor of Sociology at the University of Valencia, Spain. He is the author of twenty books and more than fifty scientific papers on several subjects related to social change, methods and techniques of social research, leisure and sports. From 1980 until 2005 he has been the director of seven surveys of sports habits in the Spanish population. The 2000 and 2005 surveys have been integrated in the European COMPASS project. Currently he is preparing the eighth survey, corresponding to the year 2010.