Senior Lecturer in Sociology of Sport and Sport Development

I have been teaching for more than 20 years now, having completed a five-year ethnographic study of amateur and professional boxing in and around London, England for my PhD. The opportunity to merge my passion for sport (in a previous life I was an amateur and professional boxer) and learning about the world around me has focused my teaching and research interests around sport sociology and sport development.

In a previous life I spent my time split between boxing competitively and backpacking and working my way around the globe.

Qualifications

• PhD Sport Sociology - University of Bedfordshire
• BA (Hons) Sport Studies - University of Luton

Teaching Expertise

• Critical Sport Sociology
• Sustainable Sport Development
• Sport for Social Change
• Qualitative research methods
• Ethnography
• Research Supervision

Research Interests

• Socialisation into and through sport
• Cultural production and violent sporting participation
• Sporting subcultures
• Sport for Change and social justice
• Athlete welfare
• Ethnography
• Embodied methodologies

External Roles

• Amateur Boxing Association of England Development Commissioner (2006-7)
• International Review for the Sociology of Sport (Reviewer)
• Qualitative Research in Sport and Exercise (Reviewer)
• Journal of Sport and Tourism (Reviewer)
• Sport in History (Reviewer)

Conference Presentations

• 'Fighting Bodies for Change'? Critical Notes on the Cultural Legacy of Women's Olympic Boxing 'ICSEMIS convention to be held in Glasgow (July 2012).
• "Embodying violence: The social construction of desire among English professional boxers", European Association for the Sociology of Sport (eass) Conference to be held in Berne, Switzerland (June 2012)
• 'Embodying the fight game – Some notes on insider identity, being ethnographic and seeking understanding while conducting ethnographic research as a boxer among boxers in England' - 2011 Ethnography Symposium - Cardiff University ( 2011)
• 'Social inclusion and sport in consumer society: A boxer's embodied and somewhat narcissistic reflections' - Leisure Studies Association (Leeds Metropolitan University 2010)
• 'Embodying the fight game: Insider reflections of personal development and social engagement among amateur boxers in England - Sport for sport?: Theoretical and practical insights in sport development : A one day symposium presented by the European Sports Development Network in partnership with the Leisure Studies Association (University of Hertfordshire 2010)
• 'Learning Respect: Class based masculinities and the performance of morals among amateur and professional boxers in England' - Leisure Studies Association (Canterbury Christ Church University 2009)
• 'Fighting pro…turning academic: An emergent methodology from the inside' - 3rd International Conference for Qualitative Research in Sport and Exercise (Roehampton University 2009)

Publications

• Stewart-Psaltis A (2023) - Insider Ethnography in Professional Boxing in Crafting Ethnographic Fieldwork: Sites, Selves and Social Worlds (Co-edited by Marvasti A & Gubrium J; Routledge)
• Stewart A (2015) - The boxer in the mirror: The ethnographic self as a resource while conducting insider in Ethnographies in Sport and Exercise Research; (Co-edited by Molnar G and Purdy L; Routledge)
• Stewart A (2012) - Boxing, Culture and Society: Developing winners through the 'sport ethic'? in Theoretical and practical insights in sport development; (Co-edited by Harris S and Mcintosh C; Leisure Studies Association)
• Stewart A (2011) – The boxer's 'Pugilistic-Present': Ethnographic notes towards a cultural history of professional boxing in England; Sport in History, Vol 31, Issue 4, pp. 464-486

Contact Details

T: +44 (0)1234 742727
E: alex.stewart@beds.ac.uk