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‘For me, the most important issue is the games themselves’: anti-Olympic activism and AI video surveillance

Adam Talbot & Jan André Lee Ludvigsen

Leisure Studies2026https://doi.org/10.1080/02614367.2026.2652891article
AJG 2ABDC A
Weight
0.50

Abstract

This article explores the ways in which activists contest Olympic-related security and surveillance measures. The Olympics bring about some of the largest security operations globally and, by drawing upon qualitative data, the article questions (1) how ‘anti-Olympic’ activists contest practices, technologies and legacies of security, and (2) how these activists can be situated within a wider social space – a security field – structured around security claim-making. This article argues that despite activists’ efforts to question and critique security-related trends, the politics of (in)security constitute a significant barrier that may mute activists’ expressed discontent within the field. Further, activists’ critiques of security can only be fully understood if seen in relation to the more general social struggle against the Olympics-related gentrification, evictions, and human rights breaches which in itself is a struggle against injustices and uneven power structures in capitalist societies. These findings add to recent debates surrounding the importance of human rights and social justice within leisure contexts.

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https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1080/02614367.2026.2652891

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@article{adam2026,
  title        = {{‘For me, the most important issue is the games themselves’: anti-Olympic activism and AI video surveillance}},
  author       = {Adam Talbot & Jan André Lee Ludvigsen},
  journal      = {Leisure Studies},
  year         = {2026},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1080/02614367.2026.2652891},
}

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Evidence weight

0.50

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20
M · momentum0.50 × 0.15 = 0.07
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.