French Politics

Special issue convener: Daniel Stockemer, Konrad Adenauer Research Chair in Empirical Democracy Studies, University of Ottawa, Advisory Board Member, French Politics, dstockem@uottawa.ca

According to the official website, the Paris 2024 Olympic Games from July 26 to August 11, and the Paralympic Games one month later will be the largest event in size that France has ever seen. The event will spread across over 40 sites and will bring together more than 10,000 athletes, 20,000 journalists, millions of spectators in Paris and surroundings, as well as billions of television spectators throughout the world. Not only do the organizers hope that Paris will be the center of the world – and a popular, multicultural festival for the two and a half weeks of the Olympic Games, the Games might also have a profound influence on politics. For example, if the games become the multicultural get-together, the organizers promise, public opinion about multiculturalism, immigrants, and tolerance could change in the short run and long run. If the Games become an organizational success, French citizens might be proud of their achievements, which, in turn, could affect their feelings of patriotism and might influence government approval ratings. With a focus on more urban studies, the Olympics could have a great impact on urban governance and planning. From a more geo-political point of view, the Olympic Committee has to walk a fine line between excluding some athletes such as Russian athletes and expressing themselves about Human Rights violations in participating countries.

Papers considered for inclusion into the special issue in French Politics should discuss the politics of the Paris Olympics broadly defined. We solicit both qualitative and quantitative papers, as well as papers that discuss politics in relation to the Olympics or Paralympics from a micro-, meso- or macro-level perspective. Papers can also use a historical ankle or a contemporary ankle, as long as they discuss the political repercussions of the Paris Games, broadly defined.

Important dates:

• 1 May 2024: Submissions of abstracts (200 words);
• 15 May 2024: Acceptance or rejection notifications sent by email;
• 15 October 2024: Deadline to submit full papers (6,000 to 8,000 words); the papers will undergo double-blind peer review with the possibility of multiple rounds of review and rejection;
• Summer 2025 or later: Publication of the Special Issue in French Politics.

For inquiries, please contact Daniel Stockemer@dstockem@uottawa.ca

For more information about French Politics, please visit: https://www.palgrave.com/gp/journal/41253