6533b86dfe1ef96bd12c9de0

RESEARCH PRODUCT

The glocalizing duality of contemporary sport

subject

description

AbstractThis 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.