Who is taking part? Political subjectivity and Glasgow's Commonwealth Games

Abstract

This paper examines the problems of locating political subjectivity in the midst of the Glasgow Commonwealth Games of 2014 and takes as its starting point Rancière's contention that politics cannot be defined on the basis of any pre-existing subject. The Commonwealth Games, as both policy vehicle and a form of knowing the world, constructs subjects through the invocation of “legacy”. This involves assuming a consensual populism within which social problems are identified and rectified through the eventfulness of the event. However, leading on from Rancière's contention above, this paper suggests a critical perspective where the event itself is de-centred in order to move beyond the citational response to mega-events: that policy constructs subjugated subjects. The paper proceeds by examining how the logics of local residents of East Glasgow elude subjugation in their encounters with the official discourses of the mega-event. It outlines the ways that political subjectivity is brought forth in two discursive spaces: first, within Games Legacy Evaluation Reports. Second, a public meeting organised by Glasgow City Council as part of their Get Ready Glasgow series. These spaces are considered alongside recent academic criticism that focuses on the corrective elements of social policy relating to sporting mega events.