In recent years, the Commonwealth has gained renewed political and diplomatic importance. Stuart Whigham and Jack Black examine how this development has affected the portrayal of sporting events in the British media, using the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games as a case study

Black, Jack

Whigham, Stuart

LSE Research Online

Sport	and	the	push	for	‘Empire	2.0’:	the	2014Commonwealth	Games	in	the	mediaIn	recent	years,	the	Commonwealth	has	gained	renewed	political	and	diplomaticimportance.	Stuart	Whigham	and	Jack	Black	examine	how	this	development	hasaffected	the	portrayal	of	sporting	events	in	the	British	media,	using	the	2014	GlasgowCommonwealth	Games	as	a	case	study.The	ties	between	sport	and	politics	are	often	evidenced	in	the	ways	in	which	sportingmega-events,	such	as	the	2014	Glasgow	Commonwealth	Games,	are	reported	and	framed	in	media	discourses.Notably,	the	Glasgow	Games	provided	a	pertinent	opportunity	to	explore	the	ways	in	which	the	UK	media	sought	toframe	the	event	in	relation	to	contemporary	notions	of	the	Commonwealth	–	as	a	geo-political	entity	–	and	to	thehistorical	legacy	of	the	British	Empire.	More	widely,	these	concerns	present	further	evidence	of	the	politicalsymbolism	of	sporting	events	and,	in	the	case	of	the	UK,	the	interlinkages	that	can	be	made	between	the	BritishEmpire,	sport,	and	the	UK’s	global	status.The	symbolism	of	the	Commonwealth	GamesSince	the	establishment	of	the	European	Economic	Community	in	1951,	UK	political	interest	in	the	Commonwealthhas	slowly	dwindled.	Indeed,	Commonwealth	relations	undertook	diverging	paths	in	the	post-war	period	as	newalliances	were	formed	and	the	Commonwealth’s	utility	as	an	effective	‘global’	force	was	diminished	by	the	Cold	War,the	geopolitical	dominance	of	the	USA,	and	the	UK’s	embrace	of	pan-European	co-operation	through	its	membershipof	the	European	Union.However,	given	the	UK’s	recent	political	and	economic	pivot	away	from	the	EU,	politicians	have	touted	the	idea	of	an‘Empire	2.0’.		These	attempts	have	geared	towards	refocusing	attention	on	Commonwealth	trading	relationships,despite	the	fact	that	the	connotations	of	‘empire’	remain	a	contentious	topic	in	both	public	and	intellectual	debates.	For	example,	prominent	anti-EU	‘Leave’	campaigner,	Boris	Johnson,	argued	that	‘[a]s	we	re-examine	our	relationshipwith	the	European	Union,	we	have	a	vital	opportunity	to	recast	our	immigration	system	in	just	this	way.	And	the	firstplace	to	start	is	with	the	Commonwealth’.	Such	a	position	illustrates	a	tendency	to	resort	to	the	former	‘imperial’	tiesand	the	‘emotional	pull’	that	the	Commonwealth,	and	perhaps	more	noticeably	its	‘white	dominions’,	have	for	the	UKwhen	compared	to	Europe.The	political	symbolism	of	the	Commonwealth	Games	movement	is	arguably	analogous	to	a	number	of	thesebroader	political	developments	relating	to	the	decline	of	the	British	Empire	and	the	power	dynamics	of	theCommonwealth	as	a	contemporary	geo-political	entity.	Originally	entitled	the	‘British	Empire	Games’	for	the	inauguralevent	in	1930,	the	subsequent	revisions	to	the	titles	of	the	‘British	Empire	and	Commonwealth	Games’	(1950),	the‘British	Commonwealth	Games’	(1970)	and	the	current	‘Commonwealth	Games’	moniker	(1978)	are	symbolic	of	theshifting	power	relations	within	the	Commonwealth,	the	declining	power	of	the	UK,	and	the	sluggish	responses	ofBritish	governments	to	embrace	the	post-colonial	era.Today	the	Commonwealth	Games	may	reflect	a	‘ritual	of	continuity’	that	simply	serves	to	maintain	‘cultural	linkages’within	the	Commonwealth.	However,	despite	these	attempts	to	maintain	positive	cultural	links	through	events	suchas	the	Games,	the	evolving	power	dynamics	within	the	post-imperial	Commonwealth	continued	to	be	asymmetric,dysfunctional,	and	hierarchical	in	nature,	given	the	dominance	of	the	‘white	dominion’	nations	of	the	UK,	Canada,Australia,	and	New	Zealand.	This	inability	to	sufficiently	redress	the	historical	power	imbalances	within	theCommonwealth	has	therefore	led	some	to	question	the	success	of	the	Games	as	part	of	the	decolonisation	process.Glasgow	2014	and	media	framings	of	the	CommonwealthWith	regard	to	examining	the	media’s	framing	of	the	2014	Glasgow	Commonwealth	Games	in	both	London-basedand	Scottish-based	newspapers,	it	was	evident	that	representations	of	the	Commonwealth	and	the	British	Empire,within	the	predominantly	Conservative-supporting,	right-leaning	press,	tended	to	reflect	upon	the	continuing	legacy	ofthe	British	Empire	in	positive	terms.	For	example,	The	Daily	Telegraph’s	reflection	upon	the	opening	ceremony	of	the2014	Games	argued	that:British Politics and Policy at LSE: Sport and the push for ‘Empire 2.0’: the 2014 Commonwealth Games in the media Page 1 of 3		Date originally posted: 2018-06-25Permalink: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/the-2014-commonwealth-games-in-the-media/Blog homepage: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/No	other	post-imperial	power	has	played	such	a	positive	role	in	the	life	of	its	former	colonies	as	Britainhas	done.	While	France,	Belgium	and	Portugal	disentangled	themselves	from	empire	in	an	often	violentmanner	that	left	behind	decades	of	resentment	and	tension,	Britain	has	successfully	positioned	itself	as	afriend	and	partner	in	progress.This	sepia-tinted	reflection	upon	the	nature	of	the	Commonwealth	and	British	imperialism	is	arguably	unsurprising,given	the	oft-cited	preference	of	certain	political	commentators	in	the	right-leaning	press	to	promote	the	possibilitiesof	enhanced	trade	and	diplomatic	relations	with	other	Commonwealth	countries	following	Britain’s	withdrawal	fromthe	EU,	contrasting	the	somewhat	more	recalcitrant	approach	towards	the	trading	arrangements	with	Britain’sgeographic	neighbours.At	the	opposite	end	of	the	political	spectrum,	the	analysis	of	the	Games	from	the	Labour-aligned	Daily	Mirror	offereda	more	scathing	account	of	the	contemporary	relevance	of	the	event	and	the	Commonwealth	more	broadly:The	Commonwealth	itself	is	a	busted	flush,	a	meaningless	relic	of	Empire.	Many	member	countries	don’teven	pay	lip	service	to	its	core	values	of	freedom,	democracy	and	the	rule	of	law…	Yet	the	Games	arestill	paraded	as	“friendly”	every	four	years.Reflections	on	the	Commonwealth	and	Empire	from	media	sources	aligned	with	the	left	and	centre-left	of	the	politicalspectrum	thus	framed	their	discussion	within	narrative	tropes	of	a	postcolonial	and	apologist	nature.	The	contrastingpositions	evident	in	the	left-aligned	press	thus	resisted	the	temptation	to	reproduce	a	white-washed	historiography	ofthe	Commonwealth’s	origins,	whilst	critically	reflecting	upon	the	negative	legacy	of	Empire	in	relation	to	slavery,racial	oppression,	economic	exploitation,	human	rights	and	power	imbalances.Despite	these	disparities	between	the	left-wing	and	right-wing	press,	references	to	the	British	Empire	did	not	alwaysfall	neatly	on	a	positive	or	negative	dichotomy.	Instead,	discussions	on	Scottish/British	identity	and	Scottishindependence	reflected	a	multidirectional	approach	to	the	British	Empire	that	served	to	frame	media	discourse	on	the2014	Games.	In	each	instance,	the	British	Empire	was	brought	to	light	as	a	form	of	orientation,	from	whichcontrasting	political	assessments	of	the	symbolism	of	the	Games	could	be	made.	Underscoring	thismultidirectionality	was	a	sense	of	ambiguity	regarding	empire.	The	inherent	ambiguity	evident	within	these	narrativesis	equally	apparent	in	the	nature	of	the	emergent	discourses	regarding	the	Commonwealth	Games	and	theconstitutional	questions	facing	the	Scottish	nation	and,	in	turn,	the	British	state.ConclusionIndeed,	given	the	aforementioned	touting	of	an	‘Empire	2.0’	strategy	by	the	UK,	the	status	of	the	modernCommonwealth	has	gained	political	and	diplomatic	importance.	Whilst	scholars	and	journalists	from	Commonwealthnations	have	illustrated	that	successful	acknowledgement	of	the	arguments	of	post-colonial	and	post-imperialtheorists	regarding	the	negative	connotations	of	the	Empire	facilitates	a	more	critical	appraisal	of	the	Empire’slegacy,	the	continued	perpetuation	of	rose-tinted	reflections	on	the	British	Empire	suggests	that	a	similarly	criticalengagement	is	lacking	as	evident	within	the	domains	of	British	politics	and	media	journalism.It	can,	therefore,	be	argued	that	any	attempts	to	establish	an	‘Empire	2.0’,	which	places	Commonwealth	nations	onan	equal	footing	within	future	political	and	economic	relations,	will	require	significant	efforts	to	redress	the	continuedwhitewashing	of	the	UK’s	imperial	legacy._________Note:	the	above	draws	on	the	authors’	published	work	in	The	British	Journal	of	Politics	and	International	Relations.About	the	AuthorsStuart	Whigham	is	Lecturer	in	Sport,	Coaching	and	Physical	Education	at	Oxford	BrookesUniversity.		British Politics and Policy at LSE: Sport and the push for ‘Empire 2.0’: the 2014 Commonwealth Games in the media Page 2 of 3		Date originally posted: 2018-06-25Permalink: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/the-2014-commonwealth-games-in-the-media/Blog homepage: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/Jack	Black	is	Lecturer	in	Sport	Studies	at	Sheffield	Hallam	University.			All	articles	posted	on	this	blog	give	the	views	of	the	author(s),	and	not	the	position	of	LSE	British	Politics	and	Policy,nor	of	the	London	School	of	Economics	and	Political	Science.	Featured	image	credit:	Pixabay	(Public	Domain).British Politics and Policy at LSE: Sport and the push for ‘Empire 2.0’: the 2014 Commonwealth Games in the media Page 3 of 3		Date originally posted: 2018-06-25Permalink: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/the-2014-commonwealth-games-in-the-media/Blog homepage: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/

Sport and the push for 'Empire 2.0': the 2014 Commonwealth Games in the media

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Sport and the push for 'Empire 2.0': the 2014 Commonwealth Games in the media

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