Activism and the Olympics
208 pages, 6 x 9
10 photographs, 4 figures, 2 t
Paperback
Release Date:27 Jul 2014
ISBN:9780813562018
Hardcover
Release Date:27 Jul 2014
ISBN:9780813562025
Activism and the Olympics
Dissent at the Games in Vancouver and London
Rutgers University Press
The Olympics have developed into the world's premier sporting event. They are simultaneously a competitive exhibition and a grand display of cooperation that bring together global cultures on ski slopes, shooting ranges, swimming pools, and track ovals. Given their scale in the modern era, the Games are a useful window for better comprehending larger cultural, social, and historical processes, argues Jules Boykoff, an academic social scientist who played for the US Olympic soccer team.
In Activism and the Olympics, Boykoff provides a critical overview of the Olympic industry and its political opponents in the modern era. After presenting a brief history of Olympic activism, he turns his attention to on-the-ground activism through the lens of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics and the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Here we see how anti-Olympic activists deploy a range of approaches to challenge the Olympic machine, from direct action and the seizure of public space to humor-based and online tactics. Drawing on primary evidence from myriad personal interviews with activists, journalists, civil libertarians, and Olympics organizers, Boykoff angles in on the Games from numerous vantages and viewpoints.
Although modern Olympic authorities have strived—even through the Cold War era—to appear apolitical, Boykoff notes, the Games have always been the site of hotly contested political actions and competing interests. During the last thirty years, as the Olympics became an economic juggernaut, they also generated numerous reactions from groups that have sought to challenge the event’s triumphalism and pageantry. The 21st century has seen an increased level of activism across the world, from the Occupy Movement in the United States to the Arab Spring in the Middle East. What does this spike in dissent mean for Olympic activists as they prepare for future Games?
In Activism and the Olympics, Boykoff provides a critical overview of the Olympic industry and its political opponents in the modern era. After presenting a brief history of Olympic activism, he turns his attention to on-the-ground activism through the lens of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics and the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Here we see how anti-Olympic activists deploy a range of approaches to challenge the Olympic machine, from direct action and the seizure of public space to humor-based and online tactics. Drawing on primary evidence from myriad personal interviews with activists, journalists, civil libertarians, and Olympics organizers, Boykoff angles in on the Games from numerous vantages and viewpoints.
Although modern Olympic authorities have strived—even through the Cold War era—to appear apolitical, Boykoff notes, the Games have always been the site of hotly contested political actions and competing interests. During the last thirty years, as the Olympics became an economic juggernaut, they also generated numerous reactions from groups that have sought to challenge the event’s triumphalism and pageantry. The 21st century has seen an increased level of activism across the world, from the Occupy Movement in the United States to the Arab Spring in the Middle East. What does this spike in dissent mean for Olympic activists as they prepare for future Games?
Well-written and at times even lyrical, Activism and the Olympics provides a provocative contribution to ongoing discussions regarding the role of sport in society. Utilizing media analyses in concert with ethnographic field research, Boykoff takes us inside the world of Olympic activists and illustrates the intertwined nature of sport and politics on the global stage.
Drawing on 70 interviews and analysis and observation of selected cases, Boykoff explores in unprecedentedly illuminating fashion the spaces of dissent within Olympic events. Interdisciplinary, critical, investigative, he shows how protest and fearless speech ('parrhesia') question Olympic myth and ideology.
An important contribution to the ongoing discussion around the role of the Olympics and its political, social, and economic implications. This book is a useful read for anyone interested in learning about the under-exposed views of the activists protesting the Olympic Games, as well as for those who seek a more comprehensive grasp fo the socio-political issues related to mega-sporting events.
An essential contribution to the fields of Olympic and social movement and political activism studies.
Well-written and at times even lyrical, Activism and the Olympics provides a provocative contribution to ongoing discussions regarding the role of sport in society. Utilizing media analyses in concert with ethnographic field research, Boykoff takes us inside the world of Olympic activists and illustrates the intertwined nature of sport and politics on the global stage.
Drawing on 70 interviews and analysis and observation of selected cases, Boykoff explores in unprecedentedly illuminating fashion the spaces of dissent within Olympic events. Interdisciplinary, critical, investigative, he shows how protest and fearless speech ('parrhesia') question Olympic myth and ideology.
An important contribution to the ongoing discussion around the role of the Olympics and its political, social, and economic implications. This book is a useful read for anyone interested in learning about the under-exposed views of the activists protesting the Olympic Games, as well as for those who seek a more comprehensive grasp fo the socio-political issues related to mega-sporting events.
An essential contribution to the fields of Olympic and social movement and political activism studies.
JULES BOYKOFF is an associate professor in the department of politics and government at Pacific University and the author of Celebration Capitalism and the Olympic Games.
List of Illustrations and Tables
Acknowledgments
Introduction: The Olympics and Me
1. Understanding the Olympic Games
2. Space Matters: The Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics
3. London Calling: Activism and the 2012 Summer Olympics
4. Media and the Olympics
5. Looking Ahead through the Rearview Mirror
Notes
Bibliography
Index
