Sport, Revolution and the Beijing Olympics

Description

The 2008 Olympic Games will be held in Beijing, but many human rights activists support a boycott. They liken the circumstances to previous governments that used the games to glorify their regimes - most notoriously the Nazis in 1936. What has led to this perception and is it fair? This cultural history of sport in China challenges many such ingrained Western assumptions. The authors unpick the relationship of sport to imperialism and revolution and examine its significance in both China and Taiwan at governmental and everyday levels. In the process they successfully debunk harmful myths, such as the prevalence of drugs in Chinese sport among women athletes, and present a balanced view that is a much-needed corrective to popular understanding.

Professor Grant Jarvie is Deputy Principal and Chair of Sports Studies at the University of Stirling. He is past President of the British Society of Sports History and Honorary Professor with the Academy of Physical Education and Sport, Warsaw. Dr. Dong-Jhy Hwang is Associate Professor with The National College of Physical Education and Sports in Taiwan. Mel Brennan is a lecturer, Towson University (USA). Mel is the former Head of Special Projects for CONCACAF, a confederation of FIFA.