Vanished in the Haze: White Elephants, Environmental Degradation and Circassian Marginalization in Post-Olympics Sochi

Abstract

Before the Olympic Winter Games in Sochi in 2014 there was an intense international discussion on the wanting Russian record on democracy and human rights and the appropriateness of organizing such mega-events in authoritarian settings. These kinds of discussions had a familiar ring to them; similar voices were heard before the Beijing Summer Olympics in 2008. However, what was notable in the scholarly discussion after the Beijing Olympics was a lack of substantiated follow-up with regard to political and social consequences of the Games. Once the Olympic Games were launched, the sports events themselves took over the public limelight. Further to this, media logics seem to dictate that once any Games are over, critical discussions are over and done with, and the attention is gradually shifted to the next mega-event to follow, in the Sochi case the Summer Games in Rio in 2016 and the FIFA World Cup in football which will be arranged in several locations in Russia in 2018. In the case of the Sochi Games, the fading from attention was exacerbated by the dramatic events which unfolded around Ukraine and the Russian role in them which came to dominate newscasts from a time when the Games had barely even been concluded.With regard to Sochi, as for all sites of major sports events, continued critical attention is called for to assess political developments on the local, regional and central levels of the state even after the conclusion of the Games. It is essential to try to gauge the extent to which predicted problems materialized, what happened afterwards, and what have been the more long-term consequences for the local population and also in a wider regional perspective.Post-Olympic Sochi offers an interesting post of observation for scrutinizing local effects of meso-level policies and mega-event arrangements.The need for a thorough follow-up to what actually befalls the host city after any Olympics can be argued for many reasons. When such a mega-event is organized in the setting of an authoritarian political system the need is exacerbated even further, and it could indeed be argued to be a duty on the part of critically minded scholars to continue to engage with the matters that have been of concern before the Olympics. Simple logic says that if these matters were of interest before the Olympics they should be so even after the circus has left the town.In this chapter, we will turn our attention to three areas that before the Sochi Olympics were

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“…Similarly, although the IOC has placed "explicit importance" (Geeraert and Gauthier 2018, p. 19) on environmental issues and sustainability since the 1990s-even designating them as its "third pillar" (Boykoff 2014, p. 40;Geeraert and Gauthier 2018, p. 19), with the other two being sport and culture-this rhetoric does not accurately reflect the reality Müller 2015). For instance, the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics is now commonly viewed as "the most expensive Olympic Games, Summer or Winter, ever" (Müller 2015, p. 191), accompanied by massive ecological destruction (Boykoff 2016b;Geeraert and Gauthier 2018;Petersson and Vamling 2016). However, prior to the Olympic Games, the organizing committee confidently proclaimed that the committee is "environmentally aware and will therefore ensure that the environment will not be damaged" (Jönsson 2013, p. 55).…”

When the party is over: developments in Sochi and Russia after the Olympics 2014

“…Moreover, in environmental terms the Games were to take place in unique natural surroundings, and were believed to bring adverse effects to the sensitive biotope and the unique flora and fauna in the area (Petersson & Vamling 2015). The organization of the Games in Sochi was riding roughshod over the interests of the indigenous group of Circassians, who waged an intensive campaign of dissent and opposition to protest against the Games, trying to gain international recognition for their cause (Zhemukhov 2014;Zhemukhov 2012;Hansen 2013).…”

Is ISO20121 Certification a Detour or Gamechanger for Eco-Striving Sport Events? A Conceptual Typology

“…Whereas, this inconsistency can be upheld for strategic reasons, i.e., to preserve legitimacy in the face of conflicting stakeholder demands (Cho et al, 2015), it can also become a delegitimizing process as failing to "walk the talk" may overshadow the engagement for ES issues in the first place. This topic is central to studies that question the ES efforts from sport organizations (Petersson and Vamling, 2016;Johnson and Ehsan Ali, 2017;Malhado and Limdemberg, 2017;Miller, 2017;Geeraert and Gauthier, 2018;Popa, 2019;Dendura, 2020). Among the most vocal critics, we find Boykoff and Mascarenhas (2016) who argue that the IOC and its hosts have capitalized on the sustainability zeitgeist without actually embracing significant environmental principles.…”

“…This topic is central to studies that question the ES efforts from sport organizations (Petersson and Vamling, 2016 ; Johnson and Ehsan Ali, 2017 ; Malhado and Limdemberg, 2017 ; Miller, 2017 ; Geeraert and Gauthier, 2018 ; Popa, 2019 ; Dendura, 2020 ). Among the most vocal critics, we find Boykoff and Mascarenhas ( 2016 ) who argue that the IOC and its hosts have…”