No Games Chicago

How A Small Group of Citizens Derailed the City's 2016 Olympic Bid
1. Auflage 2024
ISBN: 978-1-032-73473-6
Verlag: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Buch, Englisch, 246 Seiten, Format (B × H): 174 mm x 244 mm, Gewicht: 498 g

Promoted as a prestigious economic opportunity and often aggressively sought by local leaders, hosting a modern Olympics can in fact be a “city-killer” that racks up billions of dollars in over-budget expenses, degrades the environment, and shreds civil liberties. This book recounts the successful efforts of grassroots organization No Games Chicago to derail Chicago's bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics in an entertaining case study of local activism with international reach. The group’s detailed strategies and tactics provide a much-needed playbook for scholars, journalists, and activists seeking people-powered alternatives to megaprojects and other tourism-centric economic development schemes.

In a time when vital public services are being cut and curtailed, public spaces diminished, and civil liberties threatened by the over-policing of protests, America continues to dedicate billions of public dollars to private development and sports facilities. The activists of No Games Chicago broke new ground in their fight to represent the voice of the people among established local political powers in the decision-making process for Chicago’s Olympic bid. Their story resonates both nationally and globally – over 15 cities around the world have said “No Thank You!” to the Olympics since the success of No Games Chicago.

Relevant to students and chroniclers of deliberative democracy, public policy, media for social change, community organizing, and the economics of sport, No Games Chicago is an enjoyable, practical addition to the literature of citizen governance, urban planning, and economic development.

Zielgruppe

General

Autoren/Hrsg.

Tresser, Tom

Fachgebiete

• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Wirtschaftssektoren & Branchen Immobilienwirtschaft
• Geowissenschaften Geographie | Raumplanung Regional- & Raumplanung Stadtplanung, Kommunale Planung
• Sozialwissenschaften Sport | Tourismus | Freizeit Sport Olympische Spiele, Paralympics
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Regierungspolitik
• Geisteswissenschaften Architektur Gestaltung, Darstellung, Bautechnik
• Geisteswissenschaften Architektur Städtebau, Stadtplanung (Architektur)

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Contents

Preface

About the author

Acknowledgements

1. How to Use This Book

2. Introduction

3. Background - The Olympics Are BIG Business

4. Chicago Makes Its Play

5.What Was at Stake - Chicago Loves "Big Plans"

6. The Players – The International Olympic Committee

7. The Players – For the City

8. The Players – The Opposition

9.The Battle for the Bid Begins - No Games Goes Public

10.What Did the Bid Actually Propose?

11.Insights and an Insider Drives Strategy and Tactics

12.The Research - What Was Learned

13.Tactics and Tools

14.Going Public, Part 2 – April Rally & March - No Games Meets the IOC

15.Going Public, Part 3 – Operation Cheese - No Games Goes to the IOC

16.Star Power and the Bid

17.No Games Grows on the Media

18.Arrogance, Missteps, Scandal, Attempted Bribes

19.Mayor Daley Must Sign the Blank Check - Aldermen Briefed in Secret – No Games Tells All

20.50 Wards in 50 Days and No Games Was There

21.Major Push for a Community Benefits Agreement - To What End?

22.Who Backed and Paid for the Bid?

23.Chicago 2016 Economic Impact Study a Work of Fiction

24.How's This for "Oversight" - Carrie Austin & Ed Burke

25.The Battle for the Bid’s Last Days – A Flurry of City Activity - Whining & Whitewashing

26.Heading to Decision Day – Emailing the IOC 70 Days in a Row

27.The Tide Is Turned - Chicagoans Say "No Games!"

28.Going Public, Part 4 - A Protest at City Hall

29.Going Public, Part 5 – Operation Mermaid - What Happened in Copenhagen – The End of the Battle

30.Immediately After the Decision - The Media Get It Wrong Again

31.Did No Games Make a Difference?

32.Delusional Post-Mortems & No Mention of No Games

33.The Police Spied on No Games

34.The Pricey Legacy of the Bid

35.Post Battle Research – The Olympics Are Always Way Over Budget

36.The No Games Ripple Effect - No Games Organizer Deported

37.Lessons for the Future

38.Closing Thoughts

39.Strategic Playbook

40.Online Extras

41.Select Literature in the Field

Index

Über Autor(innen)

Tom Tresser is a Chicago-based civic educator and public defender. He has spent 50 years doing grassroots democracy, community organizing, and work in the defence of public assets and services. He has started or led 14 nonprofit enterprises in the arts, community development, and civic engagement. In 2008 he co-founded Protect Our Parks, which successfully fought the privatization of Lincoln Park. In 2009 he was a co-leader of the No Games Chicago campaign to stop the 2016 Olympics from coming to Chicago. In 2013 he co-founded the CivicLab, America’s first co-working and maker space for social justice. In 2016 he edited and published Chicago Is Not Broke: Funding the City We Deserve, which outlines $5 billion in progressive and sustainable annual revenue solutions for Chicago. Tom has taught community organizing, civic engagement, public policy, creativity, and nonprofit management classes at six Chicago universities.