I’ve always been fascinated by the
Cold War period. My interest is not just in the ideological conflict, but also
the social chaos that seeped into society, from the “Red Scare” to the protests
and liberalism of the 1960’s and early 1970’s. So naturally, when choosing a
topic I began looking at anything and everything in the Cold War. While most of
my early ideas where shot down since they lacked a lot of breadth in their
types of primary sources, I have finally settled on the 1980 U.S. Olympic
boycott in Moscow.
Although
I’ve settled on a topic, the sheer width of it will make it hard to narrow down
into a specific argument. Like most Cold War pieces, there are a lot of differing
factions and forces behind the Olympic boycott. It was not just policymakers on either
side of the Iron Curtain who had a voice, but also domestic support groups and athletes themselves who noted interesting stances. This leaves me with a variety of
options: to examine the efficacy of the boycott on forcing the Soviet
withdrawal of Afghanistan, the domestic support amongst the general public and
athletes, or to examine the reasons Jimmy Carter himself took this
uncharacteristically strong stance, among other options. In short my job now consists
of sifting through primary sources to find a conflict within the broader scope
of the Olympic boycott that holds my attention. That is, in my opinion, a
blessing since I’m going into my research with an open mind.
Another benefit to my research is
the lack of secondary sources devoted completely to the Olympic Boycott. Many
scholars have written about social and political culture during the conservative
revolution of the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, but very few have focused
specifically on the Olympic boycott itself. This gives me much more freedom in frame
working my argument within the context of already existing cultural viewpoints.
I like the way you've begun to see threads in your research, Trevor. Sounds like your professor was involved in a little cold war detente herself ("shot down")! Great image to help get us started. I would recommend also looking on youtube--perhaps there is something we can watch in class too.
ReplyDeleteHi Trevor,
ReplyDeleteGreat topic! As a lover of the Cold War myself, I think this will be a very interesting project! Although I do not know much about this particular area within the Cold War, I think this could prove to be groundbreaking research (seeing as the topic lacks a multitude of secondary arguments).
You might want to skim the document reader we used in our Cold War class. Although there are likely no documents regarding this particular historical moment, it might be nice to provide your readers with context of the overall nature of the Cold War conflict.
This is an interesting topic within the Cold War to concentrate on. You should concentrate on the efficacy of the boycott! Mostly because I want to know if depriving Frank Shorter of a shot at gold in the marathon served any purpose at all. There's a lot of people interested in the history of track/road-running that like to fume about the lost chances of American athletes because of this boycott.
ReplyDeleteAll kidding aside, I look forward to seeing what you uncover. This is a specific yet important event that could certainly throw some light on the politics of the time.