“Pan and circus” is not just an expression coined by the Roman poet Juvenal. It summarizes an idea that academic literature on sport and power continues to develop and around which evidence is accumulating. There has long been consensus in the scientific community: great global sports phenomena, such as football World Cups, act as social anesthetics even in times of greatest tension. And when the result favors the country itself, that effect can…
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“Pan and circus” is not just an expression coined by the Roman poet Juvenal. It summarizes an idea that academic literature on sport and power continues to develop and around which evidence is accumulating. There has long been consensus in the scientific community: great global sports phenomena, such as football World Cups, act as social anesthetics even in times of greatest tension. And when the result favors the country itself, that effect can…