Farewell Lecture, UZH: An emergent political economy, part one

The impacts of mega-events such as the World Cup and Olympic Games have never been greater, nor their realisation more contested. Every two years, global audiences are titillated by sporting drama while populations in host cities face increasing costs, human rights violations, unfulfilled promises, and white elephant infrastructures. Building on a decade of research into the urban and social impacts of mega-events in Brazil, this farewell lecture will detail the ways in which a series of localised studies have emerged into a relational political economy of the mega-event that links categories of flows, circulations, and accumulations.  This emergent political economy details the ways in which the stages of the event cycle (bid, preparation, realisation, aftermath) impact upon the exercise of power globally and trans-locally.