Q
2nd August 2012, 00:30
http://www.cpgb.org.uk/assets/images/carousel/workers_olympiad_logo.png
Link to announcement on CPGB site (http://cpgb.org.uk/home/action/faster-higher-stronger)
From the Workers’ Olympiad to the perversion of Olympic sport
According to the International Olympic Committee, “The goal of Olympism is to place sport at the service of the harmonious development of humankind, with a view to promoting a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity.” However, to the casual observer, London 2012 is a representation of the lunacy of the twenty-first century’s chauvinistic corporate and state power.
At this meeting hosted by the CPGB, socialist historian Keith Flett looks back to the International Workers’ Olympiad in order to reveal the contrasts between the two ideals. The Olympic Games have always manifested themselves to represent the changing trends of history - the narrative arc takes us from the first Olympiad in war-driven Ancient Greece, to the Workers’ Olympiads in the 1920’s and 30’s, swiftly on to Hitler’s ideological white-washing in 1936, through the famous raised fists in Mexico, and into the present.
The talk will bring into question the very nature of sport, and the role of the worker’s
movement within it.
There will be plenty of time for discussion and debate.
Speaker: Keith Flett
6pm, Sunday 5th August 2012
Location: Caxton House, 129 St John’s Way, Islington, N19
For an article on the history of the worker olympics, see this thread (http://www.revleft.com/vb/workers-sport-movement-t173877/index.html).
Link to announcement on CPGB site (http://cpgb.org.uk/home/action/faster-higher-stronger)
From the Workers’ Olympiad to the perversion of Olympic sport
According to the International Olympic Committee, “The goal of Olympism is to place sport at the service of the harmonious development of humankind, with a view to promoting a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity.” However, to the casual observer, London 2012 is a representation of the lunacy of the twenty-first century’s chauvinistic corporate and state power.
At this meeting hosted by the CPGB, socialist historian Keith Flett looks back to the International Workers’ Olympiad in order to reveal the contrasts between the two ideals. The Olympic Games have always manifested themselves to represent the changing trends of history - the narrative arc takes us from the first Olympiad in war-driven Ancient Greece, to the Workers’ Olympiads in the 1920’s and 30’s, swiftly on to Hitler’s ideological white-washing in 1936, through the famous raised fists in Mexico, and into the present.
The talk will bring into question the very nature of sport, and the role of the worker’s
movement within it.
There will be plenty of time for discussion and debate.
Speaker: Keith Flett
6pm, Sunday 5th August 2012
Location: Caxton House, 129 St John’s Way, Islington, N19
For an article on the history of the worker olympics, see this thread (http://www.revleft.com/vb/workers-sport-movement-t173877/index.html).