Professor Tony Blackshaw
Professor of Leisure Studies and Sociology
Summary
Tony is Professor of Leisure Studies and Sociology. He joined Hallam at the turn of the century. He is author of ten books and numerous refereed journal articles. As his job title suggests, Tony has particular expertise in the sociology of leisure, but he has published on a variety of other topics, including sport and community studies, and is known internationally for his work on the sociology of Zygmunt Bauman. In recognition of the diversity of his expertise, he has been invited scholar at a number of universities across the world as well as at organisations outside the academy, including L’Oréal (Paris) and the research and technology company Substance.
About
Tony’s academic career began at Hallam at the turn of the twenty-first century. Since 2003, he has produced tem books, comprising two research monographs, five studies which all critique and re-imagine their subjects in unexpected ways, one dictionary, one reader and one voluminous edited collection, as well as numerous book chapters, peer reviewed articles and book reviews, knitting together theory and method to create an ‘indisciplinary’ approach for considering the untidiness of human life in number of different subject fields. His work defies easy definition. This is because at its centre lies what Northrop Frye called the "educated imagination" which, in exempting us from the duties of location and denotation, permits the greatest freedom of all. Among its self-determinations two stand out: experimentation and innovation.
Previous works include three volumes which together reinvigorate leisure studies for the twenty-first century by changing our sense of it (Leisure Life, 2003; Leisure, 2010; Reimagining Leisure Studies, 2017), an original reading of the relationship between sport and deviance (New Perspectives on Sport and ‘Deviance’, 2004), a historical study of working-class life in the second half of the twentieth century (Working-Class Life in Northern England 1945-2010, 2013) based on a 3 year study funded by the British Academy, the chapter on community in the world’s foremost reference work of the study of religion (Vocabulary for the Study of Religion, 2015), and a critical survey of the work of the sociologist Zygmunt Bauman (2005). In recognition of the diversity of his expertise, Tony has been invited scholar at a number of universities across the world as well as at organisations outside the academy, including L’Oréal (Paris) and the research and technology company Substance.
Specialist areas of interest
Tony is an ‘indisciplinary’ sociologist whose interests lie in the Big Seven leisure pursuits (alcohol, gambling, holidays, recreational drug use, sex and television – not necessarily in that order!), sport and community studies, and the social theories and philosophical foundations of social research that underpin these.
Teaching
Courses
BA (Hons) Sport Studies
Modules
Sport and Community Development
Social Perceptions of Leisure
Research
Current research projects
Tackling the Health Divide in Northern England: An Investigation of Inequality of Outcome in Rugby League Football.
Selected research reports
BLACKSHAW, Tony (2013). Working-Class Life in Northern England 1945-2010: The pre-history and after-life of the Inbetweener generation. Palgrave MacMillan. 272 pages. ISBN: 0-230-34814-9.
Collaborators and sponsors
British Academy (Looking Back Project, 2008-2011 and Malaysian Men and Masculinities, 2002-2003)
Publications
Journal articles
Blackshaw, T., & Coetzee, W. (2020). Re-Imagining ‘Event Management’: on Governmentality and its ‘Afterlife’. International Journal of the Sociology of Leisure, 3 (4), 369-387. http://doi.org/10.1007/s41978-020-00066-z
Blackshaw, T. (2017). The two rival concepts of devotional leisure: Towards an understanding of Twenty-First Century human creativity and the possibility of freedom. International Journal of the Sociology of Leisure, 1 (1), 75-97. http://doi.org/10.1007/s41978-017-0005-3
Blackshaw, T. (2017). Some notes on the language game of dark leisure. Annals of Leisure Research, 21 (4), 395-406. http://doi.org/10.1080/11745398.2017.1376220
Blackshaw, T. (2016). Decentring leisure : rethinking leisure theory (Book review). Annals of Leisure Research, 20 (2), 240-242. http://doi.org/10.1080/11745398.2016.1254798
Blackshaw, T. (2016). 90-letni Zygmunt Bauman: Schöpferkraft i jego dwoistości. Studia Krytyczne/ Critical Studies, 2, 15-34. https://czasopisma.uni.opole.pl/index.php/sk/article/view/1388
Blackshaw, T. (2016). British sociology, the bourgeois media-sociology hybridand the problem of social class. Studia Krytyczne/Critical Studies, 3, 13-44. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/318351430_Studia_Krytyczne_-_Critical_Studies_32016_full_issue
Blackshaw, T. (2014). The crisis in sociological leisure studies and what to do about it. Annals of Leisure Research, 17 (2), 127-144. http://doi.org/10.1080/11745398.2014.920263
Blackshaw, T. (2012). The Man from Leisure : an interview with Chris Rojek. Cultural Sociology, 6 (3), 319-335. http://doi.org/10.1177/1749975511409996
Blackshaw, T. (2010). Leisure and emotional labour : a commentary on Rojek's “Leisure and emotional intelligence”. World Leisure Journal, 52 (4), 253-256. http://doi.org/10.1080/04419057.2010.9674647
Blackshaw, T. (2008). Contemporary community theory and football. Soccer and Society, 9 (3), 325-345. http://doi.org/10.1080/14660970802008959
Blackshaw, T. (2006). Too good for sociology. Polish Sociological Review, (3), 293-305.
Blackshaw, T., & Crabbe, T. (2005). Leeds on trial: soap opera, performativity and the racialization of sports-related violence. Patterns of Prejudice, 39 (3), 327-342. http://doi.org/10.1080/00313220500198441
Blackshaw, T., & Long, J. (2005). What’s the Big Idea? A Critical Exploration of the Concept of Social Capital and its Incorporation into Leisure Policy Discourse. Leisure Studies, 24 (3), 239-258. http://doi.org/10.1080/0261436052000327285
Blackshaw, T. (2002). The Sociology of Sport Reassessed in Light of the Phenomenon of Zygmunt Bauman. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 37 (2), 199-217. http://doi.org/10.1177/1012690202037002005
Long, J., & Blackshaw, T. (2000). Back to literacy. Leisure Studies, 19 (4), 227-245. http://doi.org/10.1080/02614360050118814
Blackshaw, T., & Long, J. (1998). A critical examination of the advantages of investigating community and leisure from a social network perspective. Leisure Studies, 17 (4), 233-248. http://doi.org/10.1080/026143698375088
Book chapters
Blackshaw, T. (2020). Two sociologists: Pierre Bourdieu and Zygmunt Bauman. In Routledge Handbook of Leisure Studies. (pp. 164-178). http://doi.org/10.4324/9781003074717-18
Rojek, C., & Blackshaw, T. (2020). The labour of leisure reconsidered. In Routledge Handbook of Leisure Studies. (pp. 544-570). http://doi.org/10.4324/9781003074717-53
Blackshaw, T. (2020). How shopping changed leisure. In Routledge Handbook of Leisure Studies. (pp. 358-372). http://doi.org/10.4324/9781003074717-36
Blackshaw, T. (2020). Introduction. In Routledge Handbook of Leisure Studies. (pp. 1-2). http://doi.org/10.4324/9781003074717-1
Blackshaw, T. (2020). Social capitalism and leisure policy reconsidered. In Routledge Handbook of Leisure Studies. (pp. 432-442). http://doi.org/10.4324/9781003074717-43
Blackshaw, T. (2016). Bauman on Consumerism - Living the Market-Mediated Life. In The Sociology of Zygmunt Bauman: Challenges and Critique. (pp. 117-136). http://doi.org/10.4324/9781315552637-10
(2013). Two sociologists: Pierre Bourdieu and Zygmunt Bauman. In Routledge Handbook of Leisure Studies. (pp. 186-200). Routledge: http://doi.org/10.4324/9780203140505-25
Blackshaw, T. (2013). How shopping changed leisure. In Blackshaw, T. (Ed.) The Routledge International Handbook of Leisure Studies. (pp. 358-372). London: Routledge: http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415697170/
Blackshaw, T. (2013). How shopping changed leisure. In Blackshaw, T. (Ed.) The Routledge International Handbook of Leisure Studies. (pp. 358-372). London: Routledge: http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415697170/
Blackshaw, T. (2013). Two sociologists: Pierre Bourdieu and Zygmunt Bauman. In Blackshaw, T. (Ed.) The Routledge international handbook of leisure studies. (pp. 168-178). London: Routledge: http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415697170/
Blackshaw, T. (2013). Two sociologists: Pierre Bourdieu and Zygmunt Bauman. In Blackshaw, T. (Ed.) The Routledge international handbook of leisure studies. (pp. 168-178). London: Routledge: http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415697170/
Blackshaw, T. (2013). Social capitalism and leisure policy reconsidered. In Blackshaw, T. (Ed.) The Routledge international handbook of leisure studies. (pp. 432-442). London: Routledge: http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415697170/
Blackshaw, T. (2013). Social capitalism and leisure policy reconsidered. In Blackshaw, T. (Ed.) The Routledge international handbook of leisure studies. (pp. 432-442). London: Routledge: http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415697170/
Rojek, C., & Blackshaw, T. (2013). The labour of leisure reconsidered. In Blackshaw, T. (Ed.) The Routledge international handbook of leisure studies. (pp. 544-549). London: Routledge: http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415697170/
Rojek, C., & Blackshaw, T. (2013). The labour of leisure reconsidered. In Blackshaw, T. (Ed.) The Routledge international handbook of leisure studies. (pp. 544-549). London: Routledge: http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415697170/
Blackshaw, T. (2012). Bauman on consumerism – living the market–mediated life. In The Sociology of Zygmunt Bauman: Challenges and Critique. (pp. 117-135).
Blackshaw, T. (2010). Bauman’s challenge to sociology. In Davis, M., & Tester, K. (Eds.) Bauman's challenge : sociological issues for the 21st century. (pp. 70-91). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan: http://us.macmillan.com/baumanschallenge/MarkEDavis
Blackshaw, T. (2010). Emancipation : fractured lives, certain leisure? In Rojek, C. (Ed.) Leisure Studies. Volume 4. (pp. 311-329). Sage: http://www.sagepub.com/books/Book229428?seriesId=Series1076&fs=1#tabview=title
Blackshaw, T., & Woodhouse, D. (2009). Community Partnerships. In Key Concepts in Community Studies. (pp. 170-176). London: SAGE: https://uk.sagepub.com/en-gb/eur/key-concepts-in-community-studies/book229754
Blackshaw, T., & Woodhouse, D. (2009). Community Profiling. In Key Concepts in Community Studies. (pp. 54-59). London: SAGE: https://uk.sagepub.com/en-gb/eur/key-concepts-in-community-studies/book229754
Blackshaw, T., & Woodhouse, D. (2009). Community Regeneration. In Key Concepts in Community Studies. (pp. 177-185). London: SAGE: https://uk.sagepub.com/en-gb/eur/key-concepts-in-community-studies/book229754
Blackshaw, T., & Woodhouse, D. (2009). Community Youth Work. In Key Concepts in Community Studies. (pp. 186-194). London: SAGE: https://uk.sagepub.com/en-gb/eur/key-concepts-in-community-studies/book229754
Blackshaw, T., & Woodhouse, D. (2009). Community Studies. In Key Concepts in Community Studies. (pp. 60-67). London: SAGE: https://uk.sagepub.com/en-gb/eur/key-concepts-in-community-studies/book229754
Blackshaw, T., & Woodhouse, D. (2009). Community Development. In Key Concepts in Community Studies. (pp. 164-169). London: SAGE: https://uk.sagepub.com/en-gb/eur/key-concepts-in-community-studies/book229754
Blackshaw, T., & Woodhouse, D. (2009). Action Research. In Key Concepts in Community Studies. (pp. 48-53). London: SAGE: https://uk.sagepub.com/en-gb/eur/key-concepts-in-community-studies/book229754
Blackshaw, T., & Woodhouse, D. (2009). Community Action. In Key Concepts in Community Studies. (pp. 157-163). London: SAGE: https://uk.sagepub.com/en-gb/eur/key-concepts-in-community-studies/book229754
Blackshaw, T. (2008). Bauman on consumerism : living the market-mediated life. In Jacobsen, M.H., & Poder, P. (Eds.) The sociology of Zygmunt Bauman. Ashgate: http://www.ashgate.com/default.aspx?page=637&calcTitle=1&title_id=7198&edition_id=10384
Books
Blackshaw, T. (2017). Re-Imagining Leisure Studies. London and New York: Routledge.
Blackshaw, T. (Ed.). (2016). The new Bauman reader : thinking sociologically in liquid modern times. Manchester: Manchester University Press. http://www.manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781784994037/
Blackshaw, T. (2013). Working-class life in Northern England, 1945-2010 : the pre-history and after-Life of the inbetweener generation. Palgrave Macmillan. http://www.palgrave.com/products/title.aspx?pid=533024
(2013). Introduction. Routledge. http://doi.org/10.4324/9780203140505-8
Blackshaw, T. (Ed.). (2013). The Routledge international handbook of leisure studies. London: Routledge. http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415697170/
Blackshaw, T. (2010). Leisure. London and New York: Routledge. http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415430272/
Blackshaw, T. (2010). Key concepts in community studies. London: Sage. http://www.sagepub.com/books/Book229754?siteId=sage-us&prodTypes=any&q=Key+Concepts+in+Community+Studies&fs=1
Blackshaw, T., & Crawford, G. (2009). The Sage dictionary of leisure studies. London: Sage. http://www.sagepub.com/books/Book228812?siteId=sage-us&prodTypes=any&q=The+Sage+Dictionary+of+Leisure+Studies&fs=1
Blackshaw, T. (n.d.). Zygmunt Bauman. Routledge. http://doi.org/10.4324/9780203001752
Blackshaw, T. (n.d.). Leisure Life. Routledge. http://doi.org/10.4324/9780203986806
Crabbe, T., & Blackshaw, T. (n.d.). New Perspectives on Sport and 'Deviance'. Routledge. http://doi.org/10.4324/9780203508275
Blackshaw, T. (Ed.). (n.d.). Routledge Handbook of Leisure Studies. Routledge. http://doi.org/10.4324/9780203140505
Blackshaw, T. (Ed.). (n.d.). Routledge Handbook of Leisure Studies. Routledge. http://doi.org/10.4324/9781003074717
Reports
Woodhouse, D., & Blackshaw, T. (2006). Going the Distance: Impact, journeys and distance travelled. Third Interim National Positive Futures Case Study. London: Home Office.
Crabbe, T., Bailey, G., Blackshaw, T., Brown, A., Choak, C., Gidley, B., ... Woodhouse, D. (2006). Knowing the score: Positive Futures Case Study Research: Final Report. London: Positive Futures.
Banda, D., Blackshaw, T., Brown, A., Choak, C., Crabbe, T., Gidley, B., ... Woodhouse, D. (2005). Getting to know you: Engagement and relationship building: First interim national positive futures case study research report. London: Home Office.
Theses / Dissertations
Woolsey, I. (2018). Away from nothing: An ethnographic study of travelling Sheffield Wednesday supporters. (Doctoral thesis). Supervised by Blackshaw, T. http://doi.org/10.7190/shu-thesis-00113
Other activities
Editor of Routledge’s Critical Leisure Studies Book Series.
Currently member of the Editorial Boards of Studia Krytyczne/ Critical Studies and the Annals of Leisure Research.
Associate Editor and Classic Book Reviews Editor for the Annals of Leisure Research 2012-2017.
External Examiner for the MA Sport and Society/Sport and the Media/Sport and International Development at the University of Brighton 2009-2014.
Postgraduate supervision
Current
University of Otago, New Zealand, ‘An Ethnography of Urban Exploration: Unpacking its Social Spaces and Understanding its Communities’, PhD.
Sheffield Hallam University, ‘The Importance of the Life Course in Developing a Commitment to Sport and Physical Activity in Mid Life’, Professional doctorate.
Sheffield Hallam University, ‘Away from Nothing: An Ethnographic Study of Travelling Sheffield Wednesday Supporters’, PhD.
Completed
Sheffield Hallam University, ‘Consuming Football Celebrity: patronage, power and performativity in the digital age’, PhD, September 2015.
Sheffield Hallam University, ‘Car Stickers and Coffee Mugs: A study of football and everyday life’, PhD, September 2011.