NOlympians: Inside the Fight Against Capitalist Mega-Sports in Los Angeles, Tokyo and Beyond investigates the intersection of the global rise of anti-Olympics activism and the declining popularity of hosting of the Games. The Olympics were once buoyed by myths of luminous prosperity and upticks in tourism and jobs, but in recent years these assurances have been debunked. Now more than ever, it’s clear that the Olympics have transmogrified into a political-economic juggernaut that arrives with displacement, expanded policing, and anti-democratic backroom deals. Jules Boykoff – a former professional soccer player who represented the US Olympic soccer team – zooms in on Los Angeles, where the Democratic Socialists of America have launched the NOlympics LA campaign ahead of the 2028 Summer Games. Boykoff shows how DSA-LA’s anti-Olympics activism fits with the resurgence of socialism in the US and beyond. Boykoff’s research, based on more than 100 interviews with anti-Olympics activists, personal experiences at protests in Los Angeles, Rio de Janeiro, London, and Tokyo, academic research, mass- and alternative-media coverage, and Olympic archives, is the backbone for this story of activists fighting against the odds and embracing the transformative politics of democratic socialism.
About the Author
Jules Boykoff is a professor of political science at Pacific University in Oregon, and is the author of Power Games: A Political History of the Olympics; Activism and the Olympics: Dissent at the Games in Vancouver and London; Celebration Capitalism and the Olympic Games; and Beyond Bullets: The Suppression of Dissent in the United States. His writing has appeared in New Left Review, the Guardian, the New York Times, The Nation, Al Jazeera, the Los Angeles Times, Jacobin, and elsewhere.
What People Are Saying
“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, The Nation; “The Olympic City, like so much of capitalist speculation, rests on a lie, that of shared prosperity. Through a meticulous analysis of NOlympics activism, this vitally important and urgently needed book demonstrates how social movements are exposing this lie and challenging the structures of displacement and policing that accompany the Games. Essential reading, NOlympians is a hopeful vision of how transnational resistance can build democratic urban futures.” - Ananya Roy, UCLA; “NOlympians is a timely reminder that the Olympics must end. Powerfully and precisely, Jules Boykoff introduces us to critical voices on both sides of the Pacific who are questioning the value of the capitalist mega-event. These voices are telling us that we no longer need the Olympics. This important book inspires us to listen.” - Hiroki Ogasawara, Kobe University, Japan; “Jules Boykoff is a leading voice on the politics of mega-sporting events. In NOlympians, Boykoff brings us the voices of activists on the ground who are leading an inspiring fight against the Games, ultimately showing the power and possibilities of grassroots resistance in the face rampant and corrosive capitalism.” - Amira Rose Davis, Penn State University; “In NOlympians, Jules Boykoff helps us comprehend the magnitude of the work of activists and advocates in protecting and preventing harm to different communities. His work forces us to re-examine the promises made by mega-events, and clearly see the benefits pocketed by organizers and their cronies. If you read one book on the subject of the societal, economic and environment degradation by mega-events, be it this. Boykoff’s work is essential to anyone wanting to understand this issue.” - Shireen Ahmed, sports journalist and activist; “With NOlympians, Jules Boykoff confirms his standing as our leading political theorist of the modern Olympic Games. NOlympians is a carefully researched examination of on-the-ground activism that convincingly demonstrates that the seemingly all-powerful behemoth that is the contemporary Olympic Games, can, in fact, be contested, challenged, and potentially stopped if we engage in historically-informed collective struggle. With this remarkable new book, Boykoff has provided us with the conceptual tools to continue that transnational struggle against the Olympic machine. NOlympians is a must-read for anyone concerned for the future of activist politics on the socialist left, inside and outside of sports.” - Ben Carrington, University of Southern California.; “In this vital book, Boykoff reveals the Olympic Games to not only be a neoliberal boondoggle but also a vibrant site of transnational activism and renewed socialist politics in the United States. Equally damning and inspiring, NOlympians is a must-read for left-wing activists, social justice scholars, and sports enthusiasts alike.” - Thea Riofrancos, Providence College; “Progressive groups will consider this a useful guide to launching their own anti-Olympic campaigns.” - Publisher’s Weekly; “The Olympics often exists in the abstract, a world of larger-than-life athletes and secretive closed-door IOC meetings, but the immediacy brought by this book shows how the Olympics affect people on the ground, and how it’s possible to fight back.” - Rabble.ca
Table of Contents
Introduction
Activism and the Games: Facts, Fictions, Histories
LA28, DSA Los Angeles, and the NOlympics LA Campaign
NOlympics LA Hits its Stride: Fighting the Olympic Machine
End Games