Introduction

The spectacle of major cultural and sporting events can preoccupy modern societies. This book is concerned with contemporary mega-events, like the Olympics and Expos.

Sociological Perspective

Using a sociological perspective, Roche argues that mega-events reflect the major social changes which now influence our societies, particularly in the West, and that these amount to a new ‘second phase’ of the modernization process.

Visible Changes

Changes are particularly visible in the media, urban and global locational aspects of mega-events. Thus he suggests that contemporary mega-events, both in their achievements and their vulnerabilities, reflect:

• In the media sphere, the rise of the internet;
• In the urban sphere, de-industrialisation and the growing ecological crisis;
• And in the global sphere, the relative decline of the West and the rise of China and other ‘emerging’ countries.