Olympic Diplomacy: Race, Gender, and Representation
Author
Madsen, Signe Beck
Term
4. term
Publication year
2025
Submitted on
2025-06-01
Pages
71
Abstract
Dette speciale undersøger, hvordan Den Internationale Olympiske Komité (IOC) former offentlige fortællinger om køn og race under OL i Paris 2024, som blev promoveret som en milepæl for kønsparitet. Med udgangspunkt i spørgsmålet om, hvordan IOC via sportsdiplomati påvirker kulturelle narrativer og konstruerer diskurser om kønnede og racialiserede identiteter, anvendes et kvalitativt casestudie med et diskursanalytisk blik. Undersøgelsen triangulerer tekstuelle og visuelle materialer—herunder IOC-pressemateriale og policy-sprog, mediedækning, debat på sociale medier, atletudtalelser og ceremoniel billedsætning—for at spore, hvordan sprog og symbolik projicerer legitimitet, kuraterer et globalt image og regulerer synlighed. Analysen er informeret af Foucaults diskursteori, Nyes soft power, Murray og Pigmans sportsdiplomati samt Crenshaws intersektionalitet og giver et kritisk indblik i spændet mellem retoriske løfter om inklusion og vedvarende udelukkelser formet af geopolitiske, raciale og kønsmæssige hierarkier. Særlig opmærksomhed rettes mod aktivistiske ytringer, marginaliserede atleters positionering og selektive fremstillinger af kulturel mangfoldighed som steder, hvor olympisk identitetspolitik forhandles. Specialet bidrager til debatten om, hvordan globale sportsorganisationer navigerer legitimitet, diplomati og identitet, ved at argumentere for, at mangfoldighedens sprog kan styrke soft power og offentlig opfattelse, mens manglende strukturelle reformer begrænser reel forandring—og understreger behovet for kritisk opmærksomhed på, hvilke stemmer der legitimeres eller tavses.
This thesis examines how the International Olympic Committee (IOC) shapes public narratives about gender and race during the 2024 Paris Olympics, promoted as a gender-parity milestone. Guided by the question of how the IOC influences cultural narratives and constructs discourse on gendered and racialized identities through sports diplomacy, the study uses a qualitative case study with a discourse-analytical lens. It triangulates textual and visual materials—including IOC press releases and policy language, media coverage, social media discussion, athlete statements, and ceremonial imagery—to trace how language and symbolism project legitimacy, curate a global image, and regulate visibility. The analysis is informed by Foucault’s discourse theory, Nye’s soft power, Murray and Pigman’s sports diplomacy, and Crenshaw’s intersectionality, enabling a critical reading of the gap between rhetorical commitments to inclusion and continuing exclusions shaped by geopolitical, racial, and gender hierarchies. Attention is paid to activist expression, the positioning of marginalized athletes, and selective portrayals of cultural diversity as sites where Olympic identity politics are negotiated. The thesis contributes to debates on how global sports organizations navigate legitimacy, diplomacy, and identity by arguing that the language of diversity can bolster soft power and public perception while limited structural reform constrains substantive change, underscoring the need for critical engagement with which voices are legitimized or silenced.
[This abstract was generated with the help of AI]
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