{"id":29772,"date":"2016-07-14T11:06:12","date_gmt":"2016-07-14T14:06:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rioonwatch.org\/?p=29772"},"modified":"2025-08-07T12:08:06","modified_gmt":"2025-08-07T15:08:06","slug":"power-games-a-political-history-of-the-olympics-book-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=29772","title":{"rendered":"Power Games: A Political History of the Olympics [BOOK REVIEW]"},"content":{"rendered":"

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Following books on how the Olympics<\/a> advance the interests of corporate capitalism<\/a>\u00a0and how grassroots activists resisted<\/a> this trend in Vancouver and London, Olympic researcher Jules Boykoff\u2019s<\/a> third book, Power Games: A Political History of the Olympics<\/a><\/em>, tears apart\u00a0the International Olympic Committee\u2019s fallacy that the Olympic Games are apolitical. By examining Olympic history from the revival of the Games in 1896 to the imminent Rio Olympics, Boykoff traces how the Olympics have developed into the behemoth that has transformed Rio over the past seven years. Beyond this, he also provides fantastic detail on many of the egregious abuses<\/a> in the name of Rio 2016.<\/p>\n

From the very start, the Games reeked of elitism: banning professional athletes ensured top-level sport remained the preserve of the aristocracy. Sexism<\/a> was also prevalent from the early days, with Pierre de Coubertin, the French baron responsible for reviving the Games from Greek antiquity, holding the view that a woman\u2019s glory \u201ccame through the number and quality of children she produced.\u201d Racism<\/a> also marred early Games, particularly at the 1904 St. Louis Olympics where \u201canthropology days\u201d involved forcing \u201csavages\u201d to compete in sports in order to \u201cprove\u201d that \u201ccivilized\u201d people were the master race.<\/p>\n

Throughout history, the Olympics have been a site of political struggle; as far back as the 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles, locals protested over the cost of the Games. On an international level, the 1936 Olympics in Berlin gave Hitler a wonderful opportunity to spread propaganda over the world. The first Olympic torch relay was devised as a method for spreading Nazi propaganda in southeast Europe. The political importance of the Olympics meant that in the period after World War II there were numerous boycotts of the Games, most notably against South Africa\u2019s apartheid government. All the while, however, the IOC refused to accept politics in the Olympics, going as far as to expel Tommie Smith and John Carlos from the 1968 Olympics for their\u00a0black power salute on the medal podium<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Black<\/a><\/p>\n

In the last quarter of the\u00a020th century, the IOC faced a shortage\u00a0of cities willing to host the five-ring party, a result of terrorism in Munich in 1972<\/a> and a huge debt accumulated by Montreal\u2019s 1976 Olympics\u2013which was only paid off in 2006. In response, then-IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch opened the floodgates to corporate cash, allowing relative successes such as Los Angeles 1984 and Barcelona 1992, although Boykoff is quick to point out there are issues with using these events as models for future events. Barcelona\u2019s Olympics were repeatedly referenced in Rio\u2019s Olympic bid, but there were numerous specific features which helped Barcelona capitalize on its Olympic moment, including Spain\u2019s entry into the European Union, which make it difficult for Rio to emulate Barcelona\u2019s success.<\/p>\n

While Mayor Eduardo Paes<\/a> would love Rio 2016 to be compared to Barcelona\u2019s 1992 Games, there are many more striking comparisons to be found with other Games. In the wake of 9\/11, Athens 2004 spent a whopping $1.5 billion on security, more than the city could afford. While the economic crisis in that city cannot be wholly blamed on the Olympics, as in Rio<\/a>, it was\u00a0a clear contributing factor.<\/p>\n

With an Olympic Games on the horizon, a government’s priorities<\/a> are locked down for seven years, and as a consequence important public services such as health<\/a>\u00a0and education<\/a> are eroded. Across numerous Olympic Games, a combination of gentrification<\/a> and social cleansing<\/a>\u00a0have meant that the poorest residents of host cities are excluded by the mega-event.\u00a0Despite lofty rhetoric on the environment from the IOC, the reality of the Games clearly show a disregard for the environment, evident in Rio in the construction of the golf course<\/a> in the Marapendi nature reserve and the abandonment of all environmental legacy projects<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Olympic<\/a><\/p>\n

Boykoff’s work documents that in response to these problems there is a growing trend for the Olympics to produce an activist response in host cities. Despite a ruling in the Olympic charter which forces host cities to pass laws criminalizing protest<\/a>, activists in Vancouver, London and Sochi have shown the world that the Olympics are a problem. In London, a petition on the website 38 Degrees pressured several Olympic sponsors into waiving their tax-free status<\/a>, forcing them to pay taxes on their Olympic profits. While grassroots activists concerned about homophobia and Circassian heritage<\/a> were violently repressed in Sochi, Olympic athletes found themselves empowered<\/a>, with the IOC recognizing their right to speak their minds on Russia\u2019s homophobic laws. Athletes such as Laurence Halsted<\/a> are now widening the scope of athlete’s concerns in Rio.<\/p>\n

In response to the calls for change, the IOC has adopted a reform package known as Agenda 2020<\/a>. Much like Rio\u2019s Olympic transformation<\/a>, this is more PR<\/a> than meaningful reform<\/a>. It is meant to provide\u00a0just enough change for the IOC to gain credit, but only gives \u201crecommendations,\u201d not firm rules. In Boykoff\u2019s words, Agenda 2020 represents \u201ca strategic rebranding, more aspirational than inspirational, baby steps where bold strides are required.\u201d He suggests some bold strides the IOC could take, including embracing transparency and democracy, creating a panel of experts to ensure cities use the Olympics to improve the lives of citizens, and banning human rights abusers from hosting the Olympic Games. As he puts it, \u201cthere are some terrific ideas in the Olympic Charter. It\u2019s time the IOC honored them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"From<\/a><\/p>\n

Agenda 2020 is at least an acknowledgement that there is a problem\u2014it represents \u201cbaby steps\u201d in the right direction. These were forced by the strength of opposition to the Olympics in recent host cities and in cities like Boston<\/a> and Hamburg<\/a>, which have\u00a0rejected the opportunity to bid for the Games. The IOC’s Olympic Games Executive Director Christophe Dubi recently stated the spirit of Agenda 2020 will be alive and well at Rio\u2019s Olympics<\/a>. This provides\u00a0a unique opportunity to Cariocas who want to see the Olympic Games live up to its own charter and its organizers act in a socially and environmentally responsible manner. Dissent against the Rio Olympics can show<\/a> that these piecemeal reforms are not enough, and that the IOC needs to take firmer steps to ensure the moniker of ‘the Exclusion Games<\/a>‘ does not stick.<\/p>\n

Adam Talbot is a doctoral researcher at the Centre of Sport, Tourism and Leisure Studies at the University of Brighton, UK. He is undertaking an ethnographic project focusing on social movements and activism at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas Following books on how the Olympics advance the interests of corporate capitalism\u00a0and how grassroots activists resisted this trend in Vancouver and London, Olympic researcher Jules Boykoff\u2019s third book, Power Games: A […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":100,"featured_media":29845,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1736,1334,1329],"tags":[2116,322,188,25,878,325,706,1259,673,5,374,1938,300,1903],"writer":[1901],"translator":[],"illustrator":[],"photographer":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-29772","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-1736","8":"category-reviews","9":"category-by-international-observers","10":"tag-athens","11":"tag-barcelona","12":"tag-history","13":"tag-human-rights","14":"tag-international-comparison","15":"tag-ioc","16":"tag-london","17":"tag-mega-events","18":"tag-misplaced-public-priorities","19":"tag-olympics","20":"tag-politics","21":"tag-rio-2016","22":"tag-transparency","23":"tag-vancouver","24":"writer-adam-talbot"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29772","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/100"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=29772"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29772\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":81362,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29772\/revisions\/81362"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/29845"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=29772"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=29772"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=29772"},{"taxonomy":"writer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fwriter&post=29772"},{"taxonomy":"translator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftranslator&post=29772"},{"taxonomy":"illustrator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fillustrator&post=29772"},{"taxonomy":"photographer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fphotographer&post=29772"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}