Publications
Below are a selection of my most important academic contributions, which you’re welcome to download.
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The 'male preserve' thesis: Sporting culture and men's power
In exposing the inequalities enshrined within sports culture, along with the manifold dangers endured by boys and men in the stakes of ‘proving’ masculinity in and through sport, this body of scholarship placed the potentially harmful nature of the masculinity–sport relationship firmly into the academic discourse on sport and society.
Sports violence and society
This chapter outlines an approach to classroom teaching that makes use of physical movement alongside more traditional lecturing methods when delivering lessons on abstract theoretical material. It develops the notion of embodied learning as a ‘physical metaphor’, outlining some examples of this practice that we have used in our recent work with a class of first year undergraduates.
Becoming a decent man
During the ten or so years that I’ve been involved in boxing I’ve seen countless people change their bodies, behaviours and performances of self. For many, this has been neatly understood as a simple process of becoming a boxer.
In large part, such ‘becoming’ involves moving from pugilistic newcomer towards a relatively comfortable embodiment of the physical and emotional grammars that are commonplace within boxing subcultures.
Love Fighting Hate Violence: An anti-violence programme
This chapter outlines the Love Fighting Hate Violence (LFHV) project; an anti-violence initiative aimed at inspiring reflection and generating pedagogical interventions within martial arts and combat sports.
‘It’s only sport’ – the symbolic neutralisation of ‘violence’
Within the commodified world of professional ice hockey, athletes sell their bodily performances in return for a salary. A central feature of this transaction is the very real risk of physical injury – a risk inherent within most contact sports, but particularly so within those that feature seemingly ‘violent’ confrontations between competitors, as ice hockey is widely reputed to do.
Approaching the gendered phenomenon of women warriors
Our initial motivation for producing Global Perspectives on Women in Combat Sports: Women Warriors around the World began several years ago when, as PhD candidates studying together at Loughborough University in the UK, Dr. Alex Channon and I developed a shared interest in combat sports through our separate but related research projects.
Biology ideology and pastiche hegemony
As knowledge about the biological foundation of the modern patriarchal gender order is increasingly challenged within late-modern social worlds, enclaves persist in which men and women can attempt to recreate understandings of the ‘natural’ basis of sex difference. Within ‘Power Gym’, male boxers were able to symbolise their bodies and behaviors in such a manner.
Study a PhD with Dr. Christopher R. Matthews
I specialise in conducting and supervising immersive research, but I’m keen to discuss various projects and research methods with prospective students as well.