Jules Boykoff, an author and Olympic scholar, explores, in the great depth, how the Olympic behemoth influences our global politics and economics in "Power Games: A Political History of the Olympics."
According to his website, Boykoff holds a PhD in Political Science from American University and currently teaches Political Science at Pacific University in Oregon. On top of his published works on several topics, from sociology to environmental studies, Boykoff was a former professional soccer player, which makes him a prime candidate to write about the political history of the Olympics. But I suppose that may be why he is considered one of its renowned scholars - he's studied and played sports - both professionally.
To put in quite simply, before greater elaboration, Boykoff critiques hegemony: what I understand to be the accepting of culture "as is," including political, economic and social norms. And quite prominently, Boykoff incorporates corporate, political and social activity into hegemonic thought by referencing Olympic activity as becoming increasingly neoliberal after 1980. Believe it or not, the Olympics and the IOC (International Olympic Committee), the Olympic Games' governing body, fit right into this conversation; it is even argued that the Olympic themselves are responsible for exacerbating the prevalence of neoliberal economic and social practices.
Okay, enough of the theory: Let's briefly talk about history.
Boykoff starts at the beginning, in 1896, with the French baron, Pierre de Coubertin, who revitalized the "spirit," "promise," and "culture" of Olympism into our modern day (at least since 1892) lexicon, and leads us all the way to Rio 2016 and beyond. Throughout the book, each subsection of each chapter discusses the scandals, economic injustices and prominent athletic performances that are relevant to Olympic political discussion.
Like in 1936, when Jesse Owens and the American team stormed the Berlin Olympics, the "Nazi Games," and the world shook when Jesse Owens took the gold medals. Boykoff, however, wants us to understand that it was not that cut and dry, but rather that there was a myriad of complex, unresolved geopolitical issues that arose from, and in spite of it.
Or like in 1968, in Mexico City, when Tommie Smith and John Carlos unapologetically threw up fists of "black power" to galvanize the international presence of the Civil Rights Movement in America, Boykoff made sure to include their political commentary, as it was directly relevant to conversations of race, economics and the politics of the IOC; which interestingly, as Boykoff argues, throughout its history, has preached an apolitical stance while continuing to propagate international political practices. The IOC, as Boykoff continues to pronouce, is rife with corruption and hypocritical messages, a central theme to which Boykoff makes continuous reference.
The book promotes serious critical thought on class, economic hierarchy, and subordinate community devastation, both physically and economically. Aside from the contents of the work, and its intended messages, it is so important for teenagers and college-aged people to read books, critique ourselves, and fight for meaningful change. It can only make ourselves better and quicken our progress as a culture of young people. Surely, Cultural Studies scholar Stuart Hall was right when he said that, "Hegemony is never forever." By taking in books like this, and being immersed in the politics, privilege, and struggle of the stories, we'll surely make “forever” a whole lot shorter.
Published by Verso Books, the 253-page book isn't terribly long and it is truly an entertaining read because of its informative style and heavily-researched narrative. Towards the back of the book are about 100 extra pages of references and notes, in case you were interested.
Cheers.
