The political economy of mega-events as spectacles in the Global East

This chapter critically examines the recent experiences of hosting mega-events as spectacles in East Asia or the Global East, discussing the ways in which the Asian states have utilized the Olympic Games as spectacles to create a sense of unity and togetherness. In doing so, this chapter attempts to show how the analysis of mega-events needs to be extended beyond the city scale and how such an analysis involves the consideration of the life history of mega-events from their gestation to fruition on the one hand and the political economy of the host society on the other. The case studies of mega-events discussed herein include the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, the 2020 [2021] Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, and the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, China. The analysis of the political economy of these mega-events allows us to re-theorize mega-events as spectacles from the Global East.