Webinar series: The Olympic Games

Culture and political impact across the twentieth century

Published: 25th June 2024

A series of free talks

A series of free talks

2024 is an Olympic Games year. Held every four years (with the exception of during the World Wars and Covid-19 restrictions), the modern Olympics is the largest international sporting event in the world. However, historically it has not always been just the sports that are played and the athletes’ performances that make an impact. The modern Olympics have been the focus for international politics, tensions, prejudice, acts of resistance and acts of violence.

Social, cultural and political talks

To mark the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad, being held in Paris this summer, we have brought together five academics to give five talks on a social, cultural or political aspect of the Games. All the talks are available to listen to live for free. 

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  • From White City to Wembley: London’s Olympic Games before 2012
  • The Olympian Politics of Civil Rights
  • Sport in NATO: Bidding for the 1968 Olympic Games during the Cold War
  • The 1972 Munich Olympics and the German Politics of the Past
  • ‘The Expulsion of White Supremacist States: The International Olympic Committee, Rhodesia, and Apartheid South Africa’