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Configuring the Field of Play: How Hosting the Olympic Games Impacts Civic Community
Author(s) -
Glynn Mary Ann
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
journal of management studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.398
H-Index - 184
eISSN - 1467-6486
pISSN - 0022-2380
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-6486.2008.00785.x
Subject(s) - atlanta , field (mathematics) , host (biology) , event (particle physics) , sociology , character (mathematics) , dynamics (music) , persistence (discontinuity) , economic geography , media studies , advertising , political science , geography , business , engineering , ecology , pedagogy , physics , geometry , mathematics , geotechnical engineering , archaeology , metropolitan area , quantum mechanics , pure mathematics , biology
I theorize and empirically illustrate how the mega‐event of the Olympic Games configures relational and symbolic systems within the host city. I focus on a field at the level of the local geographic community and explore how city character and traditions enable both persistence and change in institutional elements even when potentially disruptive events occur. I present two exploratory studies. The first shows how the event of the Olympics is rooted in the local field of the host city but varies by communities; the second explores the dynamics of configuring the field of one Olympic city: Atlanta, host of the 1996 Olympic Games.