Understanding the Global–Local Nexus in the Context of the Olympic Games: Implications for Managing Community Development Through Sport Megaevents
in Journal of Sport ManagementClick name to view affiliation
In this study, the authors sought to understand the influence of the Olympic Games on a host community’s globalization and development using world-systems theory and theories of globalization (i.e., glocalization and grobalization). The host community for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics (Daegwallyeong-myeon in South Korea) was the focus of this investigation. Using a global ethnographic approach, the authors collected diverse data through interviews, observations, archival and media documents, and field notes. Findings identified five key themes: (a) perception of underdevelopment, (b) the Organizing Committee’s institutional management of the global standard, (c) the Organizing Committee’s role as a negotiator between the global standard and the locality, (d) resident perspectives on global standards and regulations, and (e) aspirations to globalize Daegwallyeong-myeon. Through this study, the authors advance the use of world-systems theory and expand the concept of grobalization in the context of sport megaevent management by discussing global–local configurations and local agents’ desires to transform the community through Olympic-driven development and globalization.
Shin was with the Department of Kinesiology and Sport Management, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, USA, at the time of the study. Shin is currently with the Department of Educational Leadership, Neag College of Education, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA. Welty Peachey is with the Department of Recreation, Sport and Tourism, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL, USA.
© 2023 Human Kinetics