As the 2024 Olympics begin in Paris, 博彩平台推荐学者贾里德·巴希尔·布朗什认为民族主义是如何影响奥运会的

1906年希腊雅典奥运会跳远颁奖仪式上，第二名 Peter O’Connor, 一位爱尔兰运动员对不得不在英国国旗下接受奖牌感到不满, climbed the 20-foot flagpole and waved a large green flag proclaiming “Erin Go Bragh (Ireland Forever).他的两名爱尔兰队友站在旗杆底部，抵挡希腊军人.

奥康纳挥舞国旗不仅被视为支持爱尔兰地方自治的政治抗议, but a statement of nationalism.

自从1896年奥运会恢复以来，甚至在古代奥运会中，来自各个城邦的男性运动员都参加了比赛，奥运会就一直被吹捧, per the Olympic Charter, as placing “sport at the service of the harmonious development of humankind, 为了促进一个与维护人类尊严有关的和平社会.”

However, when the 2024 Olympic Games open in Paris Friday, they are just as likely to be noteworthy for national anthems and national flags, 球迷们的脸被画成对自己国家的敬意，国家之间的竞争可能是善意的，也可能是紧张的，也可能是充满地缘政治的.

“At the international level of the Olympics, it can be really difficult to separate sports from nationalism,” says Jared Bahir Browsh, a University of Colorado Boulder assistant teaching professor in the Department of Ethnic Studies and incoming director of the Critical Sports Studies program. “Sports can be a symbol and a surrogate for what’s happening politically, socially and economically in a country and between one country and another.

“So, any time we have these big, international events—the Olympics, the FIFA World Cup, the Cricket World Cup—you can see these interactions between nations, and see these issues bubbling up, in a way that might not happen on the floor of the United Nations.”

Modern Olympic origins

Despite what author George Orwell declared about international sporting competitions当皮埃尔·德·顾拜旦男爵提议恢复古代奥林匹克运动会时，人们认为它们是“没有射击的战争”, he is generally credited with proposing them in good, if myopic and culturally appropriating, faith.

“Wars break out because nations misunderstand each other,” de Coubertin said. “在现在隔离不同种族的偏见消失之前，博彩平台推荐将不会有和平. To attain this end, 还有什么比把各国的青年定期聚集在一起进行肌肉力量和敏捷性的友好试验更好的办法呢?”

However, Browsh says, 体育场上人人平等的观念忽视了几个世纪以来国家间的经济差距和社会不平等. “The infrastructure and systems that countries have to train athletes vary widely. 很多时候，你会看到高收入国家的运动员站在领奖台上，因为他们有能力花大量的钱把他们的运动员送到那里.

“So, 这可能会强化一种资本主义观念，即富裕国家在某种程度上更应该获得金牌, which perpetuates inequity and the narrative of dominance.”

The Olympics also, perhaps inevitably, are shaped by world events happening at the time the games take place, Browsh adds, citing the infamous “Blood in the Water” water polo match between Hungary and the USSR at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. 这场比赛发生在苏联军队暴力镇压匈牙利革命几周后, 从比赛开始的哨声开始，就变成了拳打脚踢，直到裁判提前暂停比赛，宣布匈牙利队获胜.

And since the 1984 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles, 官方名称为中华民国的台湾，由于奥运会的缘故，一直以中华台北的名义参加比赛 Nagoya Resolution 以及国际奥委会对中华人民共和国的让步.

Thinking about the Olympics

巴黎奥运会正在世界各地举行，这是一个有趣而又令人担忧的时刻, Browsh says, with nationalism continuing to grow not just in the United States, but throughout Europe, Central and South America, Asia and Africa.

“在某种程度上，博彩平台推荐可能认为体育有助于定义博彩平台推荐作为一个国家的身份，”布朗什说. “We might see our athletes as symbols of our national strength, and when they’re successful, that might get translated into a sense of rightness or even superiority.”

While a 2017 study 挪威体育科学学院的一项研究发现，一般来说，受教育程度和收入与体育民族主义水平相关, the higher both are, 体育民族主义意识越低——奥运会之所以独特“是因为突然”, as a spectator, 你真的投入了一项运动，你可能从来没有想过其他时间,” Browsh says. “在这16天里，你看着这项运动，为你的国家加油.”

In a 2016 essay for Foreign Policy, scholar David Clay Large observed of the Olympics, “In part, 这是最高运动水平的美和精心编排的场面的嘶嘶声. But, more fundamentally, 这是奥运会能够不断挖掘运动员和观众共同激情的能力. Whatever the organizational inadequacies and logistical screw-ups, 这些所谓的“世界大同”的庆祝活动之所以成功，是因为它们恰恰满足了它们声称要超越的东西:世界上最基本的部落主义本能.”

However, Browsh says, “these are going to be incredible games. I’ll be watching and celebrating these athletes.”

Perhaps more than any other international athletic competition, 奥运会带来了成就和坚持不懈的辉煌时刻, 运动员们超越了不同国家的政治，以真正的友谊团结在一起, 国内的球迷暂停了他们击败共产党的愿望，为来自另一个国家的运动员欢呼雀跃.

As spectators, Browsh says, 无论是对国际奥委会腐败的担忧，还是对有毒民族主义的恐惧，还是就如何在不毫无疑问地接受国家建设的同时庆祝运动员的辛勤工作进行谈判, “love of sport is a factor in that negotiation. 博彩平台推荐忽略了一些媒体的腐败，例如，享受博彩平台推荐最喜欢的电视节目. We negotiate these spaces in order to get some joy out of life.

“Like with a lot of things, I think there needs to be a level of criticality when we consider the Olympics. 我并不是说博彩平台推荐应该停止观看或停止欣赏它们——这不是我想做的事情——但我是说博彩平台推荐应该思考它们，以及博彩平台推荐如何才能做得更好.”

Top image: Robert Laberge/Getty Images

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