While attention is on Olympic triumphs and tribulations, there is much that goes on behind the scenes that is deeply troubling. Boykoff tells us that radical steps are required if the Games are to be fixed and only then will they be truly ‘athletes first’.
The need for critical writing about the Olympics has never been more important and no one does it more effectively or incisively than Jules Boykoff. Here he shows us not only the potential harm of the LA 2028 Summer Games but the activists who are bringing this reality to light. -- Dave Zirin
A timely, no-holds barred, critical political history of the modern Olympic GamesThe Olympics have a checkered, sometimes scandalous, political history. Jules Boykoff, a former US Olympic team member, takes readers from the event’s nineteenth-century origins, through the Games’ flirtation with Fascism, and into the contemporary era of corporate control. Along the way he recounts vibrant alt-Olympic movements, such as the Workers’ Games and Women’s Games of the 1920s and 1930s as well as athlete-activists and political movements that stood up to challenge the Olympic machine.
Focusing on the political economy of the modern Olympics, Jules Boykoff critiques how the Games have evolved into a mechanism that protects the wealthy while delivering entertainment. He introduces the concept of "celebration capitalism," highlighting the collaboration between state and private entities that benefits the latter at the public's expense. Boykoff identifies the 2004 Athens Games as a turning point, with London 2012 exemplifying this trend through rampant commercialization, suppression of dissent, and questionable sustainability, making this study vital for those interested in sports, society, and global politics.
How the State and Mass Media Squelch Usamerican Social Movements
The book examines the subtle suppression of dissident citizens and social movements in the United States, despite its traditions of tolerance and democracy. Utilizing mechanism-based social-movement theory, it analyzes various twentieth-century episodes of contention involving groups such as mid-century communists, the Black Panther Party, the American Indian Movement, and the contemporary globalization movement. Through these case studies, it sheds light on the complexities of social activism and the challenges faced by marginalized voices.