The Political Economy of the Montreal Olympic Games
Abstract
The Political Economy of the Montreal Olympic Games SAGE Publications, Inc.1978DOI: 10.1177/019372357800200103 George Wright Washington Office on Africa ' ...better, not bigger Games... We must keep out politics to save the Olympics." Montreal's Mayor Jean Drapeau Amsterdam, 1970 There is practically no aspect of life that politics leaves untouched, whether it be the dynamics of international affairs or the internal social conditions of a nation. Of course, there are institutions that claim to transcend this phenomena. These institutions purport to represent a consciousness that is non-political and pure of corruption and graft. An institution that makes this claim is the Olympic Movement. Revived in the late Nineteenth Century by Baron Pierre de Coubertin for the "sake of sport," the modern Olympic Games have, contrary to rhetoric, reflected the reality of politics. For point of contrast: in Ancient Greece wars were stopped for the Games, during the Twentieth Century the Games have been stopped for war. The Olympics, especially since the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, have become an ideological forum. Who wins the most Gold Medals signifies who has the best social system. The modern Olympics have driven countries to devote national priorities to sport - literally using the