Cruel Optimism: Zika, Lex Sportiva, and Bodies of (Alleged) Contagion

Previous literature has noted the connection between sport and corporate environmentalism, especially that which has positioned the sport mega-event as a facilitator of “sustainable” development. David Chernushenko (1994) was the first environmentalist to propose a model of ecologically sustainable development for sport and recreation management, which was criticized for the notable appeal to neoliberalcapitalist advancement. Due to eco-driven protests in Denver (1974), Toronto (1989), and Rome (1997), the International Olympic Committee (IOC) amended the Olympic Charter to reflect growing environmental concern. Yet the IOC model has—much like the work of Chernushenko—continued to favor finance. Recent literature has documented the extent to which the Olympic pillar of “sustainability,” intended to “integrate sustainable development into their policies and activities,” has allowed for deceptive corporate marketing to merely greenwash the Games. It is from this context that the Aedes aegypti or Yellow Fever mosquito rapidly emerged—now host to Dengue, Chikungunya, Zika, Mayaro, and other viruses. We borrow from Lauren Berlant the notion of “cruel optimism” to describe structural/institutional ideologies (e.g., allegiance to the monogamous, heteronormative family) that facilitate capitalist expansion, even in the midst of (environmental) crisis.3 While the literal destruction of the cityscape (whether sport-prompted or not) has cemented an economic logic into the physical landscape and modern mind, we contend that scientific-technological communities need to (more carefully) protect and privilege the pre-existent “nature-made” strategies of sustainability. So, to make an authentic commitment to the environment, the IOC—as emblematic of an international conglomerate repeatedly encouraged to rewrite and recreate sovereign law—would need to legally enforce the protection of local ecologies as it has legally enforced the protection of corporate sponsorship and the Olympic brand

Rights, not rescue: trafficking (in)securities at the sport mega-event

We examine the impact of fantasies used in the redevelopment of sport mega-event cities on host communities; particularly as related to the male-dominated FIFA World Cup and forced prostitution. We start with a discussion of event fantasies, particularly those that circulate in relation to humanitarian aid and the alleged involvement of women and children in forced labour and sexual exploitation. We trace these fantasies across several FIFA host cities since the 2006 FIFA World Cup, hosted in Germany, to leverage continual and perpetuate attention (and profit) through the non-profit industrial complex. These fantasies have facilitated and coordinated collaborative consensus amongst state authorities and allies to act in a meaningful manner even as the evidence of forced prostitution is still scant—while the realities of people that continue to be subjected to violent and exploitative labour in the construction of stadia, athlete recruitment, or equipment and apparel industries are seldom addressed. We do this to question the lived impact of policies and personalities of rescue on people engaged, consensually, in erotic labour within host cities, that are often made target of rescue intervention. The figure of the proverbial sex slave, as a highly racialized and hypersexualized trope, is mobilized through the sport mega-event to further police the bodies of all women in labour and migration. We end with a cautious message to future host cities, particularly cities implicated in the 2026 FIFA World Cup within Mexico, Canada, and the United States, of the highly-profitable and politically-advantageous rhetoric of damsel in distress

Economies of (Alleged) Deviance: Sex Work and the Sport Mega Event

Based on ethnographic data collected during the 2014 FIFA World Cup and 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, thisarticle is interested to examine urban processes which reinvent the changing (sexual) landscape. Focusing on the way (host) citiesshape sex work both imaginatively and physically, we explore the (lived) realities of neoliberal imaginaries that shape urbanspace. Often thought to exist in the urban shadow as an absent-presence in cosmopolitan processes, we demonstrate the manner inwhich sexualized and racialized women creatively resist the political and economic trajectories of neoliberal urbanism that seek toexpropriate land and dispossess certain bodies. In the context of Rio de Janeiro—as in other host cities—this is particularlyevident in the routine encounter between sexual minorities and local law enforcement. Mindful of the literature on state incursioninto social-sexual life, we remain attentive to the everyday strategies through which those deemed sexually deviant and/or victimnavigate local authorities in search of new opportunities for economic salvation in the midst of the sport mega-event

Economies of Flesh: Event-led Urbanism and the Impact on Sex Work in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Physical Cultural Studies has examined the extent to which a (sport) mega-event, like an environmental disaster, can facilitate the implementation of a “shock doctrine” (Klein, 2007) in which controversial policies, used to impose particular ideological ends, are pushed through in the wake of a cultural spectacle (Boykoff, 2013; Hayes Horne, 2011), and the urban environment is created as a series of spectacularized spaces of leisure consumption, the ultramodern sanctuaries for bourgeois bodies (Belanger, 2000; Friedman Andrews, 2011; Silk, 2013). The sentiment of shock or enthusiasm is used to distract from, and rationalize, the political-economic restructuring observed in a moment of crisis or celebration. At the heart of disaster (or event) capitalism is the need to facilitate accelerated capitalist expansion by reconfiguring the existent sociopolitical agenda. Celebration capitalism has been characterized by the emergence of a state of exception, unfettered commercialism, repression of dissent, questionable sustainability claims, and the complicity of the mainstream media (Boykoff, 2013). The manifestation of narrow, market-driven ideologies, coupled with the aggressive pursuit of growth-inducing resource material, has continued to foster resistance across host cities. In the current moment, FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) and the IOC (International Olympic Committee) have generated an increasing scale of dissent (Davidson, 2013; van Luijk Frisby, 2012). Yet the overemphasis on resistance has detracted from the everyday realities of those stuck in the pseudoshadow of the mega-event spotlight. In my work I ask: How does the everyday react to the intervention of a mega-event? This dissertation focuses on the “lived experience(s)” of local women who embodied market-oriented ideologies to react entrepreneurially to a FIFA-crisis/celebration, in order to create and enhance their “survival circuits” (Sassen, 2009) within contested urban terrain. Through the collection and analysis of ethnographic data, I document stories of everyday life from women involved in sexual commerce in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, during the 2014 FIFA World Cup to connect their “everyday” with larger social processes of global capitalist expansion, and demonstrate the manner in which these local women produce (un)intended/under-examined embodied physical cultural legacies associated with the sport mega-event.Ph.D.2018-11-30 00:00:0

pecifics for generalists: Teaching elementary physical education

Quality physical education offered at the elementary school level is critical for children to understand and develop healthy living. In most countries, physical education is taught by a generalist teacher (i.e., an individual who has not undertaken extensive training in physical education) particularly at the elementary school level. Inadequate and inappropriate preparation has been identified as a major barrier for an elementary generalist to develop and implement a quality physical education program. The purpose of this paper is to identify and discuss helpful strategies used to employ each fundamental component of a quality physical education program and is intended for a generalist audience. More specifically, the paper will explore (a) the (dis)advantage of teaching physical education as a generalist teacher; (b) the ability of physical education to address the whole child; (c) the confusion surrounding physical education and physical activity; and (d) the strategies of a successful physical educator

Mandating action : high school students' perceptions of a school-based physical activity policy

This research evaluated the impact of a provincial school-based health requirement on the student recipient. It will start with an outline of the (somewhat) recent trend to incorporate public health policies within a school environment in Canada and specific to British Columbia. Particular attention will focus upon the political context and the announcement of several provincial school health policies after the 2010 Winter Olympic/Paralympic bid. Recent school policies in the province of British Columbia include the mandate to eliminate certain cafeteria food (September 2005) and to prohibit tobacco use on school properties (September 2007). This thesis however will focus upon Daily Physical Activity (September 2008) – the requirement that all children in the province (K-12) must participate in moderate to vigorous physical activities (150 minute period per week). The intention of the research was to compare and contrast the official stories (told within provincial documentation) to that of the unofficial stories from a particular student population. Data collection was dependent upon (i) a critical review of relevant provincial documentation as well as (ii) the semi-structured interview process with a senior student population (n=14) at Terry Fox Secondary School (Coquitlam, School District 71). The combination of these two qualitative methodologies revealed (i) the student definition and approach to participation in physical activities; (ii) use of online technologies to monitor participation; (iii) the differentiation between participation in physical education, sport and physical activities; (iv) the continual emphasis on appearance to define health; and (v) the need to discuss alternative possibilities to tackle health in school. Data from each theme will be discussed with respect to the need to better articulate the relationship between the latest school-based health policies and the historical inclusion of a physical and health education curriculum within an academic domain. It will use the advice from a student audience to emphasize the basic purpose of existent curricula to educate (as oppose to mandate) people to lead a healthier life.Education, Faculty ofKinesiology, School ofGraduat