Mega-Events, City and Power

This book examines the power relations that emerge from the convergence of the universe in which the sporting spectacle is produced and the universe in which a city is produced.

It adopts Bourdieu’s concept of field to explore the interests and disputes involved in the production of sports mega-events across different times and spaces and the role of host cities in these processes. It aims to identify the bases that give these spectacles the power to produce disruptions in the social fabric of the host cities and countries, and to enable the production of authoritarian forms of exercising power. By observing the historical constitution of the field of production of sport spectacle as an autonomous field, this book explores how sport mega-events create both an arena and a context for radical expressions of authoritarianism of neoliberal planning models.

It will be of interest to students, scholars and professionals in architecture and urban studies, urban planning, municipal governance, sport and leisure studies, and those interested in the relationship between State and capital in the production of urban space.

Nelma Gusmão de Oliveira is a professor at State University of Southwestern Bahia in Brazil, where she researches large-scale development projects. Her doctoral dissertation was awarded the 2012-2013 prize for best dissertation by the Brazilian National Association of Research and Graduate Studies in Urban and Regional Planning.