No Games Chicago: How a Small Group of Citizens Derailed the City’s 2016 Olympic Bid

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.

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 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.