Jules Boykoff

Jules Boykoff
Born	(1970-09-11) September 11, 1970 (age 50)
Occupation	Academic, author
Nationality	American
Education	Ph.D in Political Science
Alma mater	University of Portland
Notable works	Beyond Bullets: The Suppression of Dissent in the United States; Landscapes of Dissent: Guerrilla Poetry & Public Space; The Suppression of Dissent: How the State and Mass Media Squelch USAmerican Social Movements; Once Upon a Neoliberal Rocket Badge; Power Games: A Political History of the Olympics
Notable awards	Trombley Award for teaching excellence
Website
julesboykoff.org

Jules Boykoff (born September 11, 1970) is an American academic, author, poet, and former athlete. He is a former professional soccer player. His research focuses on the politics of the Olympic Games, social movements, the suppression of dissent, and the role of the mass media in US politics, especially regarding coverage of climate change issues.

Boykoff has written four books on the Olympic Games, and he has written essays in The New York Times, The Guardian, The Washington Post, NBC News, Los Angeles Times, The Nation, and Jacobin. He has appeared on BBC, CNN, CNBC, NPR, CBC Television, CTV Television Network, Al Jazeera English, Democracy Now!, and The Majority Report with Sam Seder.

Life and work[]

Soccer career[]

At the college level, Boykoff played two years for the University of Wisconsin before crossing to the University of Portland. After graduating he was drafted in 1993 by indoor soccer team Portland Pride of the Continental Indoor Soccer League (CISL). He also played with National Professional Soccer League team Milwaukee Wave. In all he played four seasons of indoor professional soccer.^[1][2][3]

At the age of 19, he played for the United States men's national under-23 soccer team in the Toulon Tournament.^[4] The United States Soccer Federation entered the 1990, 1991 and 1992 editions in preparation for the 1992 Summer Olympics football tournament.

Academic career[]

Boykoff is currently a professor of Politics and Government at Pacific University, Oregon.^[5] In 2007 and 2009, students selected him as recipient of the Trombley Award for teaching excellence.^[6] He also held a visiting professor position at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington during the 2004–2005 school year.^[7]

Common course topics taught by Boykoff include US politics, the politics of surveillance, mass-media and politics, and the politics of literature and poetry.^[8] In November 2006, he spoke at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Nairobi, Kenya, "COP 12".^[9][10] In An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore mentioned work Boykoff co-authored with his brother Maxwell Boykoff (Oxford University, Environmental Change Institute) on US media coverage of global warming.^[9]

Boykoff is also co-editor of The Tangent, a politics and art zine, and runs The Tangent Reading Series in Portland, Oregon.^[9][11][12]

Critique of the Olympic Games[]

Boykoff has been called “one of the biggest names in international Olympic Games academia" and is known for his informed criticism of the Olympic Games.^[13][14]

Common themes in Boykoff's Olympics work include overspending, corruption, militarization of the public sphere and police, gentrification, and greenwashing.

Boykoff lived in London in the lead up to and during the 2012 Summer Olympics and in Rio de Janeiro as a Fulbright scholar during preparations for the 2016 Summer Olympics.^[14]

In July 2019 he interviewed two women in Tokyo who were displaced by the 1964 Summer Olympics and the 2020 Summer Olympics.^[15][16]

In June 2021 Boykoff debated Richard W. Pound of the International Olympic Committee.^[17]

Bibliography[]

Books[]

Nonfiction[]

• The Suppression of Dissent: How the State and Mass Media Squelch USAmerican Social Movements: Routledge, 2006. I ISBN 978-0415978101
• Beyond Bullets: The Suppression of Dissent in the United States: AK Press, 2007. I ISBN 978-1904859598
• Landscapes of Dissent: Guerrilla Poetry & Public Space, co-authored by Kaia Sand: Palm Press, 2008. I ISBN 978-0978926243
• Celebration Capitalism and the Olympic Games: Routledge, 2013. I ISBN 9780415821971
• Activism and the Olympics: Dissent at the Games in Vancouver and London: Rutgers University Press, 2014. I ISBN 978-0813562018
• Power Games: A Political History of the Olympics: Verso Books, 2016. I ISBN 9781784780722
• NOlympians: Inside the Fight Against Capitalist Mega-Sports in Los Angeles, Tokyo and Beyond: Fernwood Publishing, 2020. I ISBN 9781773632766

Poetry[]

• Once Upon a Neoliberal Rocket Badge: Edge Books, 2006. I ISBN 978-1890311216
• The Slow Motion Underneath (Hot Dream), collaboration with Jim Dine: Steidl, 2009. I ISBN 9783865216939
• Hegemonic Love Potion: Factory School, 2009. I ISBN 978-1600010620
• Fireworks: Tinfish Press, 2018. I ISBN 978-0998743875

References[]

External links[]

• Pacific University Faculty Page
• Interview in Pacific Magazine