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NOlympians: Inside the Fight Against Capitalist Mega-Sports in Los Angeles, Tokyo and Beyond
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.
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.
- GenresNonfictionActivism
280 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 8, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
June 29, 2021
Despite continued boosterism and relentless self-promotion the Olympic games, and other sports mega-events, are becoming tarnished by their own self-indulgence and self-importance. In recent years we have seen a growing number of cities withdraw hosting bids from both summer and winter games after local referenda have resoundingly rejected those plans. Even the (transparently ineffectual) claims to legacy and local development as well as the ever intensifying greenwashing have had little effect on local support and in some cases the emptiness of legacy claims seems to have intensified the rejection. Yet, despite this growing sense of disquiet and opposition, anti-Olympic activism remains spasmodic, localised and situational – in part a consequence of the games as a peripatetic event, in part a characteristic of coalition building with the effect that it is an activism best seen as a moment of movements.
The campaign around the planned 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles has taken on a different form, partly as a result of the much longer than usual lead in time, and partly because of conditions on the ground. Both of these circumstances are unravelled in this timely, important and insightful analysis by Jules Boykoff, one of the current leading figures in academic analyses of mega-event activism. A key element of the Los Angeles activism has been the vital role played by the broad left coalition group, Democratic Socialists of America – which itself received a boost in status, standing and profile as a result of the Sanders campaign for the Presidency in 2016 and the politics of the Trump era.
There are two key aspects to the campaign that Boykoff highlights. The first is the broadly inclusive, coalition-building character of the DSA’s activism with a high degree of participatory practice and shared responsibility for action where skills and inclusion are built through rotating responsibilities and practices. The second is that the DSA’s campaign, while Olympic focused links the games to wider shifts in democracy, governmentality and the organisation of the city so that the militarization of the police is linked to the suppression of Olympic dissent and to the oppression of communities of colour. Crucial amid all of this and to the longer terms goals is the aspect of the campaign where the opposition to the Olympics is not the moment of movements but integral to the development of the DSA and to wider struggles for a better world, where the Olympics are not just a site that helps focus issues but an aspect of the world being resisted with a vision of something new being asserted.
Boykoff is very much a participatory scholar so we get very much an insider’s view of the movement as it develops and grows. He seems to build up a high degree of trust with movement activists with the result that their voices make up a large part of the argument and analysis, while his on the ground experience adds analytical insight and gravitas to the case. In addition to this LA28 focused insight he draws on the last ten or more years of anti-Olympic activism going back to his work with the movement in Vancouver leading up to the 2010 games, but also looking at the increasingly internationalist outlook of the movement including links with the groups focusing on the Tokyo games (2020, now 2021) although less so with the Paris’24 networks. He is alert to the games in Beijing in 2022, and draws on the Chinese suppression of activism around Beijing in 2008 pointing to an awareness of the unevenness of the developments shaped both by local political cultures as well as wider conditions and state action.
Amid all of this, the book is very much from the ground up. In an earlier work Boykoff developed the notion of ‘celebration capitalism’ as a moment of exception, such as seen in the Olympics, that creates space for transformation that benefits corporate interests. While this idea is present in the analysis, Boykoff does not belabour it as an analytical frame – partly I suspect because it is not part of the DSA’s analytical repertoire.
The book works well at two levels. First, it is a richly informed analysis of the current condition of anti-Olympic activism (suggesting a need for similar studies focused on other mega-events). Second, it is an important analysis of the current conditions in LA, with indications for elsewhere in the USA, on the state of leftist activism and the potential for shifting the political terrain. At least in the way it is presented here, other activist groups could learn a lot for the DSA’s style with the circumstances that have seen anti-Olympic activism move beyond a moment of movements as much to do with the DSA’s style as other conditions on the ground.
This is an important piece of work for sport studies scholars as well as those whose work focuses on social movements. Highly recommended.
The campaign around the planned 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles has taken on a different form, partly as a result of the much longer than usual lead in time, and partly because of conditions on the ground. Both of these circumstances are unravelled in this timely, important and insightful analysis by Jules Boykoff, one of the current leading figures in academic analyses of mega-event activism. A key element of the Los Angeles activism has been the vital role played by the broad left coalition group, Democratic Socialists of America – which itself received a boost in status, standing and profile as a result of the Sanders campaign for the Presidency in 2016 and the politics of the Trump era.
There are two key aspects to the campaign that Boykoff highlights. The first is the broadly inclusive, coalition-building character of the DSA’s activism with a high degree of participatory practice and shared responsibility for action where skills and inclusion are built through rotating responsibilities and practices. The second is that the DSA’s campaign, while Olympic focused links the games to wider shifts in democracy, governmentality and the organisation of the city so that the militarization of the police is linked to the suppression of Olympic dissent and to the oppression of communities of colour. Crucial amid all of this and to the longer terms goals is the aspect of the campaign where the opposition to the Olympics is not the moment of movements but integral to the development of the DSA and to wider struggles for a better world, where the Olympics are not just a site that helps focus issues but an aspect of the world being resisted with a vision of something new being asserted.
Boykoff is very much a participatory scholar so we get very much an insider’s view of the movement as it develops and grows. He seems to build up a high degree of trust with movement activists with the result that their voices make up a large part of the argument and analysis, while his on the ground experience adds analytical insight and gravitas to the case. In addition to this LA28 focused insight he draws on the last ten or more years of anti-Olympic activism going back to his work with the movement in Vancouver leading up to the 2010 games, but also looking at the increasingly internationalist outlook of the movement including links with the groups focusing on the Tokyo games (2020, now 2021) although less so with the Paris’24 networks. He is alert to the games in Beijing in 2022, and draws on the Chinese suppression of activism around Beijing in 2008 pointing to an awareness of the unevenness of the developments shaped both by local political cultures as well as wider conditions and state action.
Amid all of this, the book is very much from the ground up. In an earlier work Boykoff developed the notion of ‘celebration capitalism’ as a moment of exception, such as seen in the Olympics, that creates space for transformation that benefits corporate interests. While this idea is present in the analysis, Boykoff does not belabour it as an analytical frame – partly I suspect because it is not part of the DSA’s analytical repertoire.
The book works well at two levels. First, it is a richly informed analysis of the current condition of anti-Olympic activism (suggesting a need for similar studies focused on other mega-events). Second, it is an important analysis of the current conditions in LA, with indications for elsewhere in the USA, on the state of leftist activism and the potential for shifting the political terrain. At least in the way it is presented here, other activist groups could learn a lot for the DSA’s style with the circumstances that have seen anti-Olympic activism move beyond a moment of movements as much to do with the DSA’s style as other conditions on the ground.
This is an important piece of work for sport studies scholars as well as those whose work focuses on social movements. Highly recommended.
June 22, 2020
As a previous aspiring Olympian sidetracked by injuries and illness, I wasn't sure what I would think about this book. It was actually a pretty interesting read and made good points about the current state of the Olympics. Definitely worth a read if you want to think a bit.
August 14, 2024
On Democracy Now, they had Jules on the show, and until now, I've never thought of the Olympics having disastrous implications. I thought it was a way to bring the world together through sports, and this book helped me understand the dangers of the Olympics. I like that the book acknowledges that the event brings people together; we can not dismiss the incredible efforts of the athletes who perform. However, if the purpose is to bring the world together and celebrate the athletes then the Olympics is failing. This book gives a detailed look in how anywhere the Olympics has ever been held, it has been disastrous for the people that are living in it. I was inspired to look up certain names and points in the book, and I saw an article from the Nolympics agenda that connected how the 1984 LA Olympics was directly tied to the heavy police militarization that contributed to NWA's FTP, 1992 LA Uprising (not a riot for obvious reasons.) I think that is where I am a little disappointed in the book because it overemphasized DSA and their role in Nolympics. I am not diminishing what DSA has done for the movement, but I think the idea is bigger than what the DSA has done. I liked when they were connection what was done in Japan, Brazil, and other countries. Because if we want to bring the world together, this NOlympics is a way to do it. The Olympics are inherently political. It is not surprise that US has the most gold medals. Are we watching the most qualified athletes from each country go against one another? Or, are we watching where money is able to be funneled into. In contrast to the poor, the book makes a point that it is not just that the poor are not given a seat at the Olympic table, it is that they are the meal. The IOC is a machine of capitalism. A friend brought up to me that the Olympics has to happen, and there is no way it isn't going to, so what does that mean moving forward? LA currently is doing a no build olympics, and they are already coopting spaces to pretend they care about the community. Apparently every run club's lead in LA was offered a ticket to Paris Olympics. Zaakiya from South Central Run Club wrote an incredible piece on how these are strategies to deflect the gross neglect of the communities that the games are held. The Olympics have a 7 billion budget for a 2 week event, but we are only investing 1 billion for 10 years for the unhoused. It's gross overspending. Does it bring that much joy to the world that we have to spend this much money on a televised event that the local community does not even really get to be apart of? Which btw, it was also written in the book that every time it is held they go over the budget. Is there a way to reform the Olympics so that the world can enjoy in an ethical manner? I think so. I just don't believe it can be done under the IOC with the present circumstance. I also think it's wild that the world can come together and just pretend that what is happening in Palestine isn't happening. Overall, an important read. I think the Nolympics agenda website is an incredible resource that might be better than this book, but ultimately, I am glad I read it.
July 25, 2025
i wish i knew this book was an ad for DSA then i wouldn't have read it
March 7, 2020
Even if you are a fan of the Olympics, you may not be aware of the history of the IOC, the corruption and the damage that hosting Olympic games bring to the host city. Full review here: bit.ly/NOlympians
November 4, 2023
The topic is very interesting, but the flow of the text is a bit sporadic and takes a lot of energy to follow.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews