Mega-events, Time and Modernity

Abstract

This article addresses the relation between `mega-events' and time in modern society. `Mega-events', or international cultural and sport events such as the Olympic Games and World's Fairs, have an `extra-ordinary' status by virtue of their very large scale and their periodicity. Mega-event genres have had an enduring mass popularity in modernity since their creation in the late 19th century and continue to do so in a period of globalization. Drawing on recent analysis of mega-events the article suggests that this popularity derives from the significant positive and adaptive roles they continue to play in relation to the interpersonal and public structuring of time.