%0 Journal Article %A Grix, Jonathan %A Brannagan, Paul %A Houlihan, Barrie %D 2015 %T Interrogating states’ soft power strategies: a case study of sports mega-events in Brazil and the UK %U https://repository.lboro.ac.uk/articles/journal_contribution/Interrogating_states_soft_power_strategies_a_case_study_of_sports_mega-events_in_Brazil_and_the_UK/9621017 %2 https://repository.lboro.ac.uk/ndownloader/files/17268752 %K untagged %K Medical and Health Sciences not elsewhere classified %K Sociology %X Central to this article is the use of sports mega-events as part of a state's “soft power” strategy. The article offers two things: first, a critique of the “soft power” concept and a clearer understanding of what it refers to by drawing on the political use of sports mega-events by states; second, the article seeks to understand how and why sports mega-events are attractive to states with different political systems and at different stages of economic development. To this end a case study of an advanced capitalist state (London Olympics, 2012) and a so-called “emerging” state (FIFA World Cup, 2014; Rio Olympics, 2016) will be undertaken in order to shed light on the role of sports events as part of soft power strategies across different categories of states. %I Loughborough University