Introduction

This book focuses on accessibility, inclusion, and diversity in critical event studies. As an under-researched area, the chapters not only present original work in terms of topics, but also in theoretical and methodological approaches. By investigating special events, we can learn who and what is important – and unimportant – and how this may manifest itself in everyday life. We can see values and beliefs on display and discern from them the social architecture of the community. Yet, we must also try to understand whose voices are not being heard, whose needs are not being catered for, whose stories are not being told. However, it is only recently that issues of under-representation, marginalisation, and intolerance have begun to emerge in the critical events discourse. Although there has been a recent swell of media attention and public interest in this area, research focusing on non-hegemonic populations as they relate to events environments still is in need of further exploration.