The Employment Legacy of the 2012 Olympic Games: A Case Study of East London

Description

This book offers a detailed account of the employment promises made to local East Londoners when the Summer Olympic Games 2012 were awarded to London, as well as an examination of how those promises had morphed into the Olympic Labor market jamboree from which local communities were excluded. Regarding the global job market of London, this study provides a nuanced empirical view on how the world’s biggest mega event was experienced and endured in terms employment by its immediate hosts, in one of the UK’s poorest, most ethnically complex, and transient areas. The data has been collected through ethnographic observation and interviews with local residents, and expert interviews with the Olympic delivery professionals. Using Bourdieusian theory of contested capital, the findings provide an important bearing on the reproduction of inequality in the local labor markets of Olympic host cities. Front Matter ....Pages i-xv Introduction (Niloufar Vadiati)....Pages 1-10 Mega-Event: Urban Duality (Niloufar Vadiati)....Pages 11-18 Olympic Games: Legacy versus Delivery (Niloufar Vadiati)....Pages 19-32 London versus East London (Niloufar Vadiati)....Pages 33-57 In Pursuit of Employment Legacy (Niloufar Vadiati)....Pages 59-75 The Career Trajectory of ‘Men of Delivery’ (Niloufar Vadiati)....Pages 77-97 East Londoners as the Workforce for London 2012 (Niloufar Vadiati)....Pages 99-125 Conclusion: Legacy Ambivalence (Niloufar Vadiati)....Pages 127-135 Back Matter ....Pages 137-139