Mega Events in Post-Soviet Eurasia: Shifting Borderlines of Inclusion and Exclusion

Acknowledgements List of Abbreviations Introduction - Sports, Politics and Boundaries: Playing the Inclusion - Exclusion GamesAndrey Makarychev and Alexandra YatsykPart I Mega-Events and Social Issues
1. Mega-Events As Agents of State Socialization: Human Rights Protests in Beijing, 2008 and Sochi, 2014Richard Arnold2. The 2014 Winter Olympics Bid Book as Site of National Identity Constitution Philipp Casula
3. Vanished in the Haze: White Elephants, Environmental Degradation and Circassian Marginalization in Post-Olympics SochiBo Petersson and Karina Vamling
Part II Post-Soviet Autocracies and Mega-Events
4. Ice Hockey World Championship in Belarus: Political Context
Ryhor Nizhnikau and Niko Alvari
5. Kazakhstan and the Global Industry of Mega-events: A Case of Autocratic ManagementAdilzhan Nurmakov
6. First European Olympic Games in Baku: New Articulation of Azerbaijani Identity? Anar Valiyev
Part III Global Norms and Local Governance
7.Fiscal framework for mega-events in post-Soviet Eurasia: Shifting the borderline or raising the bar?Karolina Tetlak
8. Regional dimensions of global games: the case of sports mega-events in TatarstanAlexandra Yatsyk
9. From Sochi - 2014 to FIFA - 2018: The Crisis of Sovereignty and the Challenges of GlobalisationAndrey Makarychev
References
Notes on ContributorsIndex

The edited volume explains why sport mega events can be discussed from the viewpoint of politics and power, and what this discussion can add to the existing scholarship on political regimes, international norms, national identities, and cultural narratives. The book collects case studies written by insiders from different countries of post-Soviet Eurasia that have recently hosted- or intend to host in the future -sporting events of a global scale. Contributing authors discuss cultural, political, and economic strategies of host governments, examining them from the vantage point of an increasing shift of the global sport industry to non-Western countries. Mega-events often draw domestic lines of cultural and social exclusion within host's polities. It is these ruptures and gaps this volume explores, contributing to a better understanding of the intricate interconnections between global institutions and national identities.