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>From the Detroit Workers' Voice mailing list August 20, 2016 RE: Sports mega-events and the BRICS --Neo-liberalism and the 2016 Rio Olympics-- The 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio are coming to an end. Sports can be exciting, and millions of people love to watch mega-events like the World Cup or the Olympics. But unfortunately these games aren't organized simply for the love of sports. They have involved big business and nationalist competition. Huge amounts of money are spent on these events, large profits are made by capitalist interests, and the masses of people have been left to pay the bill. For example, the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal left the city with a debt of about $1.5 billion dollars: it took 30 years, until 2006, for the debt to be paid off. These mega-events are also used to promote neo-liberal transformation in the host cities. This is pointed out in a chapter of the book "BRICS: An Anti-capitalist Critique" (2015), which is an anthology edited by Patrick Bond and Ana Garcia. Most of this informative book deals with the economic nature of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa), and the political nature of their governments. The articles show that the BRICS have developed one characteristic feature of imperialism after another, and they tend to call the BRICS "sub-imperialist". There is, for example, lots of material on how the BRICS are falling like wolves on Africa and exploiting it to the hilt in a ravenous race that resembles the notorious "Scramble for Africa" by the traditional imperialist powers. For example, we see how the BRICS look to Africa for the extraction of natural resources, while regarding Africa as a market for the industries of the BRICS. But Chapter 12, written by Einar Braathen, Gilmar Mascarenhas and Celina Sorboe, takes time off for sports; it is entitled "Rio's ruinous mega-events" and deals with the world sports spectaculars. It points out that in recent years not just Brazil but "all the BRICS countries have invested enormous financial resources and political prestige in hosting mega-sports events" (BRICS, p. 186). These events are supposed to be an economic boon to the people of these countries, and especially to those in the host cities. But in reality they have helped wash away barriers to neo-liberalism: "As existing institutional frameworks are overruled to respond to the needs of international sponsors and private interests, the Olympic bid books become the _de facto_ urban planning documents in host cities. ... the overriding of institutional guidelines and the implementation of a neoliberal regime can only happen by unifying the city around a common project." (p. 188) Brazil's sports mega-events have been the 2014 FIFA World Cup (soccer), held in 12 Brazilian host cities, the present Summer Olympics in Rio, and the coming Rio Paralympics. As a result, 12,000 people in a number of working-class and poor neighborhoods have faced relocation (Jonathan Watts, "Favela residents protest forced Olympic relocation by blocking Rio roadway," Guardian, April 1, 2015, theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/01/rio-olympics-protest-vila-autodromo-relocati on). Also democratic rights have been restricted in Rio's favelas, partly in the name of providing security for the mega-events. To make this acceptable to the local population, promises were made that social projects would be completed as part of the preparation for the mega-events, but many promises were broken. This was one of the causes of the giant demonstrations several years ago when "millions of Brazilians took to the streets in June 2013 in what became the largest street demonstrations in recent history. What started as a protest against a price hike in public transportation in Sao Paulo quickly escalated to mass mobilisations against the massive public sending on stadiums and infrastructure related to mega-events while the quality of public services remains precarious. They also revolted against the violence used by the police force to quell the demonstrations". (p. 195) It was the Brazilian administration of the Workers' Party of Luis Anacio Lula da Silva and Dilma Vana Rousseff that won the right from the world sports governing bodies to hold these events, and that -- until the current political crisis -- carried out the preparations for them. It carried out these mega-events in the same general way that every other country has. Holding these mega-events is one way that the host countries pledge loyalty to the neo-liberal system; it's a way in which the bourgeoisie of the host cities gets an international stamp of approval. It is part of a "central strategy for cities in the South branding themselves as 'global cities'." (p. 186) Clearly this refers to global cities of the world bourgeoisie. By taking part in this strategy, the Workers' Party showed that it was adhering to the basic economic framework of neo-liberalism, even as it implemented a number of social programs with the money from the oil and commodity booms. When the oil and commodity booms deflated, the economy went into crisis, as Brazil was still just a typical capitalist economy. Other chapters in "BRICS" show that the giant Brazilian companies acted just like the giant companies in traditional imperialist countries, and that the Brazilian government, including during the period of Workers' Party administration, spurred this on and helped extend Brazilian exploitation in Africa and elsewhere. by Joseph Green <> ================================================ To subscribe to the DWV list or send in comments, write to m...@communistvoice.org. For more information about the DWV list, see http://www.communistvoice.org/DWV_email_list.html ================================================= _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
