Historically, The Olympics Have Been Used As A Mechanism For Political

Historically, The Olympics Have Been Used As A Mechanism For Political Historically, The Olympics Have Been Used As A Mechanism For Political Agendas Discuss This â€" Essay Example > Historically, the Olympics have been used as a mechanism for political agendas” Discuss this statement in relation to the interconnectedness of leisure, sport, and politicsSports make up an important part of the modern life (Coakley, 2001, p. 4). They have brought different people from different regions together through shared experiences. Leisure time has promoted the need for sporting activities. Although considered the pillar of global interconnectivity, historically, sports have been used to advance political agendas which have led to both positive and negative consequences (Mason, 2012). And as such, sports are tools that reinforce globalization while articulating political chase in regards to nationality and ethnicity. Political agendas have been witnessed more so in the Olympic Games over the years. These games are important due to their political, economic and social benefits that they bring to participative countries. However, they have been surrounded by politics. Poli tical issues arise in the Olympic Games due to their size as well as the heightened media coverage. This essay will illustrate the interconnectedness between leisure, sports and politics. It will also offer historical evidence to illustrate that Olympic Games have been used to pursue political agendas. The historical accounts have offered different perspectives of what leisure is. According to Veal (1992), leisure can be described in time, activity and attitude perspective. In Australia, the concept of time is ruled by economic factors like the need to go back to school at a given time or the opening of offices. Also, another factor that has governed the rhythm of time is religion since Christmas among other holidays is used as a day of rest. Therefore, in this regard, leisure is the spare time when economic activities and personal work have been handled. It is simply defined as the time left when home-care and economic duties have been attended to. In activity perspective, leisur e involves activities that give the feeling of relaxation such as tourism, gaming, recreation, sports and socializing (Veal, 1992, p. 4). On the other hand, leisure phenomenon in attitude perspective is the activities that are conducted for one’s self without any obligation. It is an activity that an individual undertakes for enjoyment or self-satisfaction. Therefore, leisure is a relatively freely undertaken activity at spare time for self-enjoyment. According to Veal (1992), leisure is far from being an isolated sphere since it makes up an important part of the society. And as such, leisure is not just a lingering category of activity; it is a domain of activity that takes a fundamental role in shaping the pattern of the wider economy, work and politics. Leisure is considered a tool that shapes and is shaped by political agenda. For instance, sports in Australia gained popularity in the 18th century and have greatly influenced the economic, cultural and political agenda of the country. An example is how traditional aboriginal sports and culture have influenced contemporary political actions to secure land ownership. The spiritual ties of the Aboriginal people with the land and their culture has motivated contemporary actions in Australia (Veal and Lynch, 2012, p. 4). Also, the influence of leisure is evident in most Western countries. For instance, public holidays such as Christmas and Halloween have become an integral part of many countries with the government investing capital to develop public recreation facilities for leisure time in these holidays (Veal and Lynch, 2012, p. 4). One important activity that constitutes leisure in Australia is sports.