COURSE STRUCTURE
Module 3 Topic B: Discussion Questions
Following the lecture, and having read the assigned readings and watch relevant video clips, you are expected to prepare answers for TWO (those questions in green) of the following discussion questions. Your prepared answers will form the basis of your verbal contributions within discussion sections
These answers should:
1. Be a minimum of 150 words for each answer (not including the question or reference list).
2. Be typed and double-spaced.
3. Have the complete question immediately prior to the answer.
4. Cite appropriately any sources used in your answer (use appropriate Style and Format Guidelines).
5. Include a complete reference list (use appropriate Style and Format Guidelines).
6. Hand in a hard copy of answers during discussion section
The aim of these answers is to get you to engage and extend the information covered within each theme, in order to generate a better understanding of core concepts, knowledge, and issues.
These questions are intended as preparation for both the discussion section and exam related to this topic.
PLEASE NOTE: Within the multiple choice section of the module exam, you should expect to be asked questions on the information related to any of these questions.
However, the ONE thematic essay question for the module exam will be selected from those questions in green.
Following the review session for this module the selected question will be designated in red.
Theme 1: Baltimore as the Archetypal Neoliberal City
1. In what ways can Baltimore be considered representative of contemporary US cities? What are the major process which have shaped Baltimore over the last half century? What influence have these processes had on both Baltimore’s economy, and the way the city is governed/managed?
2. Describe the shift from industrial to post-industrial Baltimore; from a welfare managerialist to a entrepreneurial mode of city governance; and from a city as a site of material production to one based on cultural consumption.
3. How is entrepreneurial city governance related to core tenets of neoliberalism? In what ways is the neoliberal city a retrenchment city? How does the entrepreneurial mode of governance relate to trickle down understandings of economic impact? What does it mean that consumption spaces (i.e. the various components of the “tourist bubble”) are the motors of economic growth within the post-industrial city?
Theme 2: Baltimore’s Spectacular Reinvention and Corporate Sport
1. Describe the three major phases of Baltimore’s redevelopment as a post-industrial city. To what degree were public funds used to fund these phases of urban regeneration? Why do think Baltimore has been identified as a “model” for waterfront urban redevelopment?
2. Why are sport teams/events/stadia important parts of urban economic redevelopment strategies, and key elements in the creation of “tourist bubbles”? What are sport teams/events/stadia important to political leaders within a city? To what lengths do cities go to secure their “major league” status?
3. To what extent, and in what ways, are both Orioles Park and Raven’s Stadium examples of publicly subsidized facilities used by privately owned and run sporting organizations? What are the justifications for this usage of public funds? What are the potential issues related to this channeling of public monies into commercial sport entities?
Theme 3: Feeding the Downtown “Sporting” Monster
1. What is the “downtown monster”, and why does it need continual feeding? Why is there intense inter-urban competition between post-industrial cities? Which cities would you consider to be Baltimore’s most direct inter-urban rivals?
2. What sporting strategies/initiatives has Baltimore used (or is considering using) in creating and feeding its downtown “monster”? Which of these do you think have been successful, and which not? Are there any sporting strategies/initiatives you could imagine Baltimore initiating in the future?
3. Outline the arguments for and against or sport-focused urban regeneration strategies. Where do you stand on this argument. Think through the rationale for your adopted position. Is there a significant trickle down effect derived from sport-focused urban regeneration schemes?
Theme 4: Neoliberal Baltimore’s Privileged Spaces and Populations
1. Briefly describe the “Three Baltimores” outlined by Levine. Why has neoliberal retrenchment, and related entrepreneurial governance strategies, resulted in different opportunities and experiences for the populations associated with each of these “Three Baltimores”?
2. Why is the post-industrial city reliant upon the attraction of the creative class? Describe the physical activity preferences and experiences of the creative class. How, if indeed at all, have cities been re-designed, re-developed, or re-purposed in order to attract and retain the creative class population?
3. Describe the phenomenon of privilege amplification. Outline the multiple ways that affluent Baltimore suburbanites are privileged, specifically in relation to their access to and experiences of sport and physical activity resources and programming. Why is this privilege amplified in both private and public spheres?
Theme 5: Neoliberal Baltimore’s Under-Privileged Spaces and Populations
1. How is it possible to argue that the under-served and challenged lives of Baltimore’s underclass are related to the entrepreneurial urban governance and redevelopment strategies adopted by the city? What is the cause of the “rot beneath the glitter” (Harvey, 2001), and what effect has it had on the lives of Baltimore’s less affluent communities and populations?
2. To what extent, and in what ways, does Baltimore’s underclass experience deprivation amplification in general, and within the sphere of sport and physical culture more specifically? How has the retrenchment of Baltimore’s public services been manifest within the realm of sport and recreation? How have the city’s system of recreation centers been, at least partially, neoliberalized? Has this been a success?
3. How is it possible to argue that the emergence of illegal dirt bike racing within Baltimore city is directly linked to the very existence of Orioles Park, in that both are the outgrowths of entrepreneurial/retrenchment forms of urban governance. Does the city’s strategies of urban governance, particularly as it relates to sport and physical culture, privilege certain populations over others? If so, what could or should be done about this?
