Pierre de Coubertin and Internationalism.

Autor/in	Wassong, Stephan
Titel	Pierre de Coubertin and Internationalism.
Quelle	Aus: Georgiadis, Konstantinos (Hrsg.): Olympic truce as an Educational Tool for Peace. 13th International Session for Educators of Higher Institutes of Physical Education, 1-7 July 2019. Athen (2020) S. 73-88 PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei Link als defekt meldenVerfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	online; gedruckt; Sammelwerksbeitrag
ISBN	960-9454-54-2; 978-960-9454-54-4
Schlagwörter	Bildung; Pädagogik; Geschichte (Histor); Internationalismus; Sportgeschichte; Sportpädagogik; Olympische Spiele; Coubertin, Pierre de
Abstract	Pierre de Coubertin (1863-1937) developed his educational ideas and initiatives to found the modern Olympic Movement in the last decade of the 19th century. Without doubt, times have changed since the origins of the modern Olympic Games, meaning that a "measured" contemporary reading/understanding of Coubertin is required in order to stress the relevance and sustainability of his ideas for today. The importance of this has been mentioned by former IOC-President Jacques Rogge in his opening speech of the XIII Olympic Congress in Copenhagen in 2009. Thomas Bach, who had been elected President of the IOC in 2013 and who himself has a profound knowledge of Coubertin's Olympic ideas and the concept of Olympism, regards a modern understanding of Coubertin as important for a correct analysis of the Olympic Movement and for emphasizing its uniqueness in the world of sport and societies across the globe. Bach has stated this on various occasions, including, amongst others, discussions at the Olympism in Action Forum, held in Buenos Aires in October 2018, and at meetings of the IOC's Commissions for Olympic Education and for Culture and Olympic Heritage. Historiography describes the end of the 19th century as the age of imperialism, nationalism, and continuous industrialization. The latter had an enormous influence on the world's economic, technical, political and social life. It also supported internationalisation by improvements in transport and communication. But in the area of tension between nationalism and imperialism, the first initiatives also developed to promote a peaceful, educationally motivated internationalism. The objective was to defuse mono-nationalist thinking, which determined and challenged global policy guidelines. The article focuses on this and it analyses how Coubertin imbedded initiatives of the young but emerging educational internationalism in his concept of the Olympic Games as an international platform for athletes from different nations. In addition to this, the argument is developed that the international dimension in Coubertin's thinking can still be experienced today. It has been, and will be the driving force for the Olympic Movement and the Olympic Games to stimulate intercultural dialogues. This must be acknowledged in the context of the currently tense global political situation, which is causing a decline of exchanges in civil society on almost all levels. Of course, before getting into this topic, it should be noted that the promotion of a peaceful, educationally motivated internationalism through the Olympics was only one dimension in Coubertin's thinking. Other dimensions included the expectation that the modern Olympic Games should contribute to the dissemination of sport and its appreciation as an educational tool for citizens of all age groups and societies across the globe. Addressing this would be a topic of its own and exceed the time limit of the lecture. Hence, the focus will be on Coubertin's educational approach to internationalism and its relevance for today's Olympic Movement. (Einleitung).
Erfasst von	Bundesinstitut für Sportwissenschaft, Bonn
Update	2024/1