Political Studies Association

Russell is the Co-founder  of the Political Studies Association Specialist Group on Sport and Politics.

The study group  established in 2005 under the auspices of the Political Studies Association to provide opportunities for discussion, debate and research on sport politics. The group is very active and hosts annual conferences, workshops and discussion panels to foster the development of academic research on sport politics within political studies and political aspects of sport in related fields and disciplines.

Russell’s PhD thesis was published as a full-length academic volume, The Making of New Labour’s European Policy (Macmillan, 2002), described as ‘an important, innovative and, above all, timely book which fills a significant gap in the existing literature’ (Professor Colin Hay). In addition, Russell’s articles and reviews have appeared in both academic and popular publications. Selected publications include;

  • Is this the end of an Era: The Decline of British Afro-Caribbean Cricket. The Nightwatchman, Wisden Cricket Quarterly Volume 8, Winter 2014
  • Never Forget You’re Welsh: The Role of Sport as a Political Device in Post Devolution Wales. Journal of Sport and Society Vol 14, Number 2, 2009
  • The Hegemony of Commerce, the Decline of Government and the end of Morality. Journal of Sport and Society Vol 12 Number 4/5Cardiff Sporting Greats (contributor, ed A.Hignell & G.Prescott, Tempus 2007)
  • ESRC Project on Discourses of Globalisation and European Integration in the UK and Ireland (rapporteur, Economic and Social Research Council, 2006

Russell Holden has earnt a significant international reputation for his political and socio-cultural research and scholarship both within and beyond sport. He is an inspiration to both colleagues and students, and, in an educational era defined by increasingly aggressive commercial maxims, continues to serve our scholarly industry with incredible generosity and humility. Dr.Geoff Kohe, Senior Lecturer in Sociology & Sports Studies, University of Worcester 

Sport in Society

Journal of Common Market Studies

Conferences

In recent times Russell has presented academic papers at conferences run by the British Society for Sport History, Black History Month, The Institute of Historical Research, The Global Studies Association,

Play the Game, The Contemporary European Studies Association, The European Consortium for Political Research, Sport and Social Change, Canadian European Studies Association Studies Association, The Irish Political Studies Association, and the International Studies Association .

Russell also co-sponsored the Manchester Football and Culture Conference in 2014 jointly organised by Manchester Metropolitan University and the University of Westminster. This event examined the culture that develops around football,with particular focus on the influence of sport on other cultural media.

In the Zone is available to

  • Undertake specialist research on sociology of sport issues
  • Co-ordinate and co-host events on themes linked to the politics of sport.