ABSTRACT
On 27 July 2012 in front of a multimillion global television audience, as is customary for all Summer Games, the head of the British state Her Majesty the Queen will solemnly pronounce the words, “I declare open the Games of London 2012 celebrating the XXX Olympiad of the modern era” (IOC, 2007, p. 103). The declaration marks the start of the world’s greatest sporting festival, the social, political and economic significance of which goes well beyond that of a mere competition in jumping higher, running faster and pushing stronger. This is because the main purpose of the Olympic and Paralympic Games is to celebrate human excellence irrespective of ethnicity, colour, ability, faith and gender. The Games also celebrates the end of an Olympiad, a four-year period, during which policy makers, sport officials, athletes, volunteers, scientists, educators and journalists around the world have been making efforts to improve the overall conditions that make excellence possible. The modern Olympic Games was conceived in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin as a developmental project, which uses sport for the betterment of the world. In particular, the Games was envisaged as a tool to draw the attention of the political class to the importance of young people’s physical and moral development and to promote respect, mutual understanding and peace. The ontological limitations of Coubertin’s philosophical ideal underpinning Olympism have been variously challenged and continue to generate debates today. This has led some commentators to refer to Coubertin as “a second rate thinker, but a first class marketer” (Seagrave, 2011). The growth of the Olympic Games and what it stands for seems to have proved this observation right. Yet, despite political and economic turmoil and controversy, the Olympic Games remains one of the very few cultural phenomena, if not the only one, that has been celebrated globally for over 116 years. London 2012 differs from the 26 previous editions of the Games in three key aspects. First, it has set a historical precedent in that the host country’s government has made a commitment to use the Olympic Games to affect social change on a mass scale and to deliver a range of legacies not just for London but for the whole of the UK (DCMS, 2007, 2008, 2009). The UK government has made its ambitions very clear: “Our mission for 2012 is to inspire people to get
involved and to change the way they live their lives” (DCMS, 2007, p. 1). In particular, the Games was to be used as a catalyst for the regeneration of long-neglected East London, which is one of the most deprived areas in the UK. A second major departure for London compared to previous Games has been the government’s specific plan to utilise the Paralympic Games to introduce a sea change in public attitudes towards disability. As the first of its kind policy document London 2012: A Legacy for Disabled People. Setting New Standards, Changing Perceptions declares, “Our aim is to influence the attitudes and perceptions of people to change the way they think about disabled people” (DCMS, 2009, p. 2). This policy is in sharp contrast with the reality during the 1908 London Games, when the UK government promoted a policy of segregation between able-bodied and disabled people both in general and in sport in particular (Stevens, 1995). A third major feature of London 2012 has been its efforts to rationalise the most intangible aspect of the Olympic idea – its inspirational power. To assist with this aim, a new non-commercial programme and an “Inspire” mark was created to promote grassroots projects across sustainability, education, volunteering, business, sport or culture that have been directly inspired by the Games (www.london2012.com/inspire-programme). London 2012 is the most ambitious project in the history of the Olympic Games in terms of both its scope and level of change, as, in order to be implemented successfully, it has to address not only people’s attitudes and behaviours but also deeply rooted social structures and relations. According to Seb Coe, Chair of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG), “the success of the Games will be measured in six Ss: (i) Sport must be vibrant and compelling, to inspire young people; (ii) Streets must be festive and buzzing, with a party atmosphere; (iii) Screens: large screens at Live Sites must be places where people can celebrate together; (iv) Stadia must be full of excited and passionate fans; (v) Service must be helpful with polite, friendly and well-informed volunteers; (vi) Sustainability must produce long-lasting social, economic, environmental and sporting benefits” (LOCOG, 2011, p. 8). Such visions of the Games greatly extend Coubertin’s prophecies in terms of scope, level of detail and impact. Staging the Games provides a rare opportunity to reflect and report on the extent to which the event’s symbolic and material potential has been used to affect social change in the host city and country. The Games also provides a great learning opportunity as every aspect of its organisation – from venue and operations planning, to security and legacy – has been scrutinised by politicians, media, academics, various social movements, community groups and future organisers. Thus, the Games yields empirical insights and has the power to inform planning considerations and to shape future course of action. The two-volume collection on the 2012 London Games is the first attempt to unpack a single edition of the Games, from inception to celebration and legacies, using a multipleperspective approach. The original plan for this collection was to be endorsed by the Organising Committee of the Games as a licensed product, in order to allow a small group of researchers access to key officials and documentation, thus offering a greater breadth and depth of analysis. However, for a number of reasons this plan did not materialise and had to be reconsidered some three months before the publication of the first volume. Naturally, the scale of the London Games, including a workforce of around 6,000 paid staff, up to 70,000 volunteers, around 100,000 paid contractors, 15,000 athletes and officials, 21,000 media personnel, 37 competition venues, 500,000 spectators per day, a public budget of £9.3 billion and an operational budget of £2 billion, represents a huge undertaking not only for LOCOG but for the whole country as well. Table 1.1 shows the main agencies involved in the making of the London 2012 Games and their responsibilities, while table 1.2 shows the public funding provided. Public sources of funding include Central Government – £6,248 billion (67 per cent), London – £875 million (10 per cent) and National Lottery – £2,175 billion (23 per cent).
