Glasgow 2014, the media and Scottish politics: The (post)imperial symbolism of the Commonwealth Games
| Author | Stuart Whigham,Jack Black |
| Published date | 01 May 2018 |
| Date | 01 May 2018 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/1369148117737279 |
| Subject Matter | Original Articles |
https://doi.org/10.1177/1369148117737279
The British Journal of Politics and
International Relations
2018, Vol. 20(2) 360 –378
© The Author(s) 2018
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DOI: 10.1177/1369148117737279
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Glasgow 2014, the media and
Scottish politics: The (post)
imperial symbolism of the
Commonwealth Games
Stuart Whigham1 and Jack Black2
Abstract
This article critically examines print media discourses regarding the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth
Games. The forthcoming analysis examines the political symbolism of the Commonwealth
Games with regard to the interlinkages between the British Empire, sport and the global political
status of the United Kingdom. The article gives specific consideration to the United Kingdom’s
declining global power as well as the interconnections between the 2014 Games and the Scottish
independence referendum. Hechter’s ‘internal colonialism’ thesis, which portrays Scotland’s
marginalised status within the United Kingdom, is drawn upon to critically explore the political
symbolism of sport for Scottish nationalism. Discussion then focuses upon the extent to which the
modern Commonwealth is symptomatic of the United Kingdom’s declining status as a global power.
Finally, the existence of these narrative tropes in print media coverage of the Commonwealth
Games is examined, allowing for critical reflections on the continuing interconnections between
the media, sport, nationalism and post-imperial global politics.
Keywords
British Empire, Commonwealth Games, media discourse, nationalism, post-imperialism, sport
Introduction
The link between empire and the United Kingdom’s various ‘nationalisms’ has proved
a valuable line of enquiry for those considering contemporary renditions of Britishness
(Mycock, 2010). Advocates of the ‘new imperial history’ have recited a ‘shared …
determination to demonstrate that it was [and is] impossible to separate the histories of
Britain and its Empire because they were, politically and culturally, mutually constitu-
tive of each other’ (Vernon, 2016: 21). In fact, while asking the question ‘[w]hy is it
1 Department of Sport and Health Sciences, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Oxford Brookes University,
Oxford, UK
2Academy of Sport and Physical Activity, Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield, UK
Corresponding author:
Stuart Whigham, Department of Sport and Health Sciences, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Oxford
Brookes University, Headington Campus, Oxford OX3 0BP, UK.
Email: swhigham@brookes.ac.uk
737279BPI0010.1177/1369148117737279The British Journal of Politics and International RelationsWhigham and Black
research-article2017
Original Article
Whigham and Black 361
important that such a history of the British Empire should be written?’, MacKenzie
(2015: 115) argues that:
The reason is surely that it may well be in the history of ideas, of science, of religious encounters,
of environmental issues, of all forms of cultural diffusion (and syncretism), that the true and
longer-lasting legacy of the British Empire may reside.
We would add that one predominant legacy is the sporting practices that continue to be
played throughout the former Empire, a sporting diffusion that is reflected in the
Commonwealth Games.
Accordingly, while academics have considered the British Empire and its global
impact (Darwin, 1991, 1999, 2012; Devine, 1999, 2003; Ferguson, 2004; MacKenzie,
2008, 2015; Maguire, 1999; Mangan, 1992b), there is the potential to consider further
the relationship between empire and the British home nations (Glassock, 2016;
MacKenzie, 2008). Therefore, this article will critically examine print media discourses
regarding the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games. In particular, the political sym-
bolism of the event and the interlinkages between the British Empire, sport and the
global political status of the United Kingdom will be considered, with specific attention
given to the United Kingdom’s status as a declining power. Given that Glasgow 2014
provided ample opportunities for the host nation to portray explicitly various construc-
tions of the past, present and future of each ‘nation’, the Games also facilitated the
chance to examine the nature of these portrayals and the subsequent media reactions to
such. Indeed, ‘to argue that Britain’s political culture was influenced and modified by
its Empire is not simply to seek in the past an explanation for problems in the present.
Nor is it an argument that is relevant only to the more modern period’ (Thompson,
2000: 194). Instead, this article will critically examine the emergent patterns within
media coverage of the political symbolism of these events, situating this coverage
within the context of a British state, which is facing numerous constitutional dilemmas.
To begin this analysis, a consideration of the British Empire’s role in the global diffu-
sion of sport will be considered.
Sport and the British Empire
Opening on 12 May 1911, the ‘Festival of Empire’, held at the newly constructed ‘Crystal
Palace’ in London, England, served to commemorate the coronation of King George V
via an array of exhibitions, pageants and intra-empire competitions. At the time, the fes-
tival reflected the breadth of the British Empire, with the inclusion of an intra-empire
sports championship encouraging participants from Australasia (Australia and New
Zealand), Canada and South Africa (Moore, 1986). While the Festival highlighted the
extent to which symbolic rituals associated with the British crown could provide British
imperial rule an outward symbol of superiority and legitimacy (Maguire, 1999; Mangan,
1992b; Moore, 1986; Stoddart, 1986, 1988), the global diffusion of ‘British’ cultural
codes was also maintained through British sporting practices (Mangan, 1992a). These
sporting practices, embroiled with ethnic-colonial characteristics, served to bind ‘cousins
of the tongue far more closely than any amount of diplomacy and trade convention’
(Cambridge University Magazine, 1886: 21 cited in Mangan, 1992a: 5). As evident in the
festival’s sporting contests, sport provided an important spectacle to define national char-
acter as well as a source of national mythologising (Llewellyn, 2015).
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