CRUEL OPTIMISM: ZIKA, LEX SPORTIVA, AND BODIES OF (ALLEGED) CONTAGION

Previous literature has noted the connection between sport and corporate environmentalism, especially that which has positioned the sport mega-event as a facilitator of "sustainable" development. David Chernushenko (1994) was the first environmentalist to propose a model of ecologically sustainable development for sport and recreation management, which was criticized for the notable appeal to neoliberal-capitalist advancement. Due to eco-driven protests in Denver (1974), Toronto (1989), and Rome (1997), the International Olympic Committee (IOC) amended the Olympic Charter to reflect growing environmental concern. Yet the IOC model has-much like the work of Chernushenko-continued to favor finance. Recent literature has documented the extent to which the Olympic pillar of "sustainability," intended to "integrate sustainable development into their policies and activities, " has allowed for deceptive corporate marketing to merely greenwash the Games. It is from this context that the Aedes aegypti or Yellow Fever mosquito rapidly emerged-now host to Dengue, Chikungunya, Zika, Mayaro, and other viruses. We borrow from Lauren Beriant the notion of "cruel optimism" to describe structural/institutional ideologies (e.g., allegiance to the monogamous, heteronormative family) that facilitate capitalist expansion, even in the midst of (environmental) crisis. While the literal destruction of the cityscape (whether sport-prompted or not) has cemented an economic logic into the physical landscape and modern mind, we contend that scientific-technological communities need to (more carefully) protect and privilege the pre-existent "nature-made " strategies of sustainability. So, to make an authentic commitment to the environment, the IOC-as emblematic of an international conglomerate repeatedly encouraged to rewrite and recreate sovereign law-would need to legally enforce the protection of local ecologies as it has legally enforced the protection of corporate sponsorship and the Olympic brand.