Phil Cohen | openDemocracy

“Only war makes it possible to mobilize all of today’s technical resources while maintaining the property system.”

- Walter Benjamin, 1936

Beyond carnival capitalism: London 2012 and its legacy of hope

Phil Cohen 22 January 2013

London 2012 provided a key insight into the shifting relationships between global, national and local as residents with no material stake in the Games came together to participate in their success. How might the power of this already-existing ‘commons’ pave the way for an alternative legacy?

Towards a good enough Legacy: the long term impact of London 2012

Phil Cohen 10 August 2012

As London 2012 draws to a close the questions of Legacy and how to measure the Games' impact emerge as present tense issues. In this week's Friday essay Phil Cohen challenges the starting point of these discussions: the assumption that the population who use and will come to use the space all share the same vision as the narrowly selected development committee.

A beautifying lie? Olympic culture and kitsch @London2012

Phil Cohen 11 May 2012

The directorial questions facing Danny Boyle in his upcoming dramatisation of the Tempest for the London 2012 opening ceremony feedback into the very heart of these Games and the conceptions of Britishness on which they depend. Phil Cohen examines the self-regarding kitch on which the Olympic project depends.

This week's editor

Niki Seth-Smith is a freelance journalist and co-editor of OurKingdom.

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