Skip to main content

Research Repository

Advanced Search

Sporting mega-event security in hyperreality and its consequences for democratic security governance

Aitken, A

Authors



Abstract

Within the sporting mega-events literature three key developments exist: 1. Security is performative and symbolic; 2. Security reactivates state authority and legitimacy in developing security responses; 3. Security measures have discernible security ‘legacies’. Taking a case study of the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and the resultant securitization of an existing residential community, this article uses Baudrillard’s concepts of hyperreality and simulation (1981) and the ‘virtual’ (2005) to examine the above developments in depth. It is shown that mega-event securitization operates as a form of hyperreal performativity. For local residents, this heightens perceptions of risk, increases demands for security, and legitimizes security measures which impact on democratic freedoms.

Citation

Aitken, A. (2021). Sporting mega-event security in hyperreality and its consequences for democratic security governance. Democracy and Security, 17(3), 233-256. https://doi.org/10.1080/17419166.2021.1891529

Journal Article Type Article
Online Publication Date Mar 27, 2021
Publication Date Mar 27, 2021
Deposit Date Feb 24, 2023
Journal Democracy and Security
Print ISSN 1741-9166
Electronic ISSN 1555-5860
Publisher Routledge
Volume 17
Issue 3
Pages 233-256
DOI https://doi.org/10.1080/17419166.2021.1891529
Publisher URL https://doi.org/10.1080/17419166.2021.1891529
Additional Information Grant Number: 1624849