Reconsidering anthropocentrism: Local young people's perspectives on the 2018 Winter Olympics’ developmental and environmental impacts

Sport mega-events such as the Olympic Games can bring both socio-economic benefits and environmental risks to hosts. While literature on the environmental impacts of mega-events has focused on contemporary capitalism and its human-centred imperatives as causal sources of environmental degradation, analysis remains relatively indifferent to how people at the scene view the outcomes of these events. Drawing upon two competing environmental ethics (anthropocentrism and ecocentrism) as conceptual tools, this paper examines how young people from the hosting areas of Pyeongchang 2018 interpret the relative significance of the developmental benefits and environmental damages. Semi-structured interviews with 15 local young people reveal three dimensions of their anthropocentric views: (a) valuing nature based on human circumstances, (b) perceiving developmental benefits as tangible but environmental impacts as distant and (c) viewing the Olympics as a means to address regional inequalities in development. Given that the predominance of anthropocentric thinking among young people derives from the region's long-standing underdevelopment, this paper argues that understanding anthropocentric views provides a crucial foundation for addressing environmental challenges. As environmental problems are inherently social and require collective action, human needs and frustrations should be considered and addressed for environmentalism to achieve meaningful impact and gain momentum in contemporary society.