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SteveJackson2009 BA(WOnt) MS PhD(Ill)
Tel +64 3 479 8943
Email steve.jackson@otago.ac.nz

Background

Steve Jackson is a Professor specialising in the socio-cultural analysis of sport. He is a graduate of the University of Western Ontario (Canada) and the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (USA). In addition to his post at Otago Steve has served as a Visiting Professor at Charles University (Prague, Czech Republic), the University of Jyvaskyla (Finland), the University of British Columbia and Wilfred Laurier University (Canada), Federal University of Parana (Brazil), Waseda University (Japan), Shanghai University (China), the National Taiwan Normal University and the University of Johannesburg (South Africa). Professionally, he is a past-President of the International Sociology of Sport Association (ISSA) and Research Committee 27 of the International Sociology Association (ISA), 2008–2015.

Currently the Associate Dean Research and Co-Director of the New Zealand Centre for Sport Policy & Politics, Steve  has also served as a member of New Zealand's Performance Based Research Fund (PBRF) panel and as a grant reviewer for: the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the Swiss National Science Foundation, the South African National Science Foundation (NSF) and World Anti-Doping Association (WADA).

Steve is a Corresponding Editor for the International Review for the Sociology of Sport and has served on the following editorial boards: Communication & Sport, Sociology of Sport Journal, Qualitative Research in Sport and Exercise, International Journal of Sport Marketing and Management, Revista (Journal of the Latin American Association for the Sociocultural Study of Sport), and the Asia Pacific Journal of Sport and Social Science.

New Zealand Centre for Sport Policy & Politics webpage

Teaching

As a teacher, Steve has been honoured with a New Zealand Ministry of Education Tertiary Teaching Award for Sustained Excellence.

Research

Professor Jackson's research focuses on globalisation, national identity and the media and his current research projects include: Advertising and the Colonisation of Sport Culture; Sport, Culture and Alcohol, and Globalisation, Sport and Corporate Nationalism. His research has been funded by a range of organisations including: the Australian Research Council (ARC), International Council for Canadian Studies Faculty Research Program, Alcohol Advisory Council of New Zealand (ALAC), Japanese Ministry of Education, International Science and Technology (ISAT) and the University of Otago.

  • Globalisation and Sport
  • National Identity and Sport
  • Media and Sport
  • Sporting Masculinities
  • Sport, Culture and Alcohol
  • Sport and Advertising as a Cultural Field

Students  interested in PhD, Masters or Honours research in these or related areas are  invited to contact Steve at:steve.jackson@otago.ac.nz

Postgraduate Students

Current Students

  • Eric Junior Appiah (PhD): Ethics of Youth Football Development in West Africa: The Synergy of Policy and Practice (co-supervisor with Mike Sam)
  • Eleanor Crabill (PhD): The cultural economy of the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup in Aotearoa/New Zealand (co-supervisor with Sally Shaw)
  • Tim Dawbin (PhD): The political economy of youth sports integrity in Aotearoa/New Zealand (co-supervisor with Mike Sam)
  • Kyu Jin Jin (PhD): Globalisation, Corporate Nationalism and nation-state Diplomacy (co-supervisor with Mike Sam)
  • Damon Lillis (PhD): The Benefits, costs, and outcomes of hosting the Women's Rugby, Cricket, and Football World Cups in Aotearoa/New Zealand (co-supervisor with Mike Sam)
  • Diego Moreno (PhD): The Politics of Chilean Sport Policy (co-supervisor with Mike Sam)
  • Haewan Park (PhD): Maltreatment in Sport: An Institutional Approach (co-supervisor with Mike Sam)
  • Russell Mawhinney (Master of Laws): Religious Expression in Professional Sport: Towards a Legal Framework (co-supervisor with Professor Rex Ahdar).

Graduates

PhD

  • Dr Michael Silk (PhD): The Production of Meanings: Television Practices, Interpretations, and Narratives at the 1998 Commonwealth Games
  • Dr Jay Scherer (PhD): Globalization, Sport and Corporate Nationalism in New Zealand
  • Dr Michael Sam (PhD): Developing Sport Policy by Taskforce: Ideas, Interests and Institutions
  • Dr Roger LeBlanc (PhD): The 1st XV: Understanding the Experiences of Gay Male Rugby Players
  • Dr Sarah Gee (PhD): Sport, Advertising & The Crisis of Masculinity
  • Dr Lynley Anderson (PhD): Ethics in sports health care. (Co-Supervisor)
  • Dr Joseph Piggin (PhD): Power, Politics & Policy: Creating, Deploying and Resisting Meaning in New Zealand Public Sport Policy
  • Dr Koji Kobayashi (PhD): Globalisation and Corporate Nationalism and Japanese Identity: Advertising Production and Signifying Practices of Nike and Asics
  • Dr Ik Young Chang (PhD): Transnational Migration and Identity Negotiation: Sport and Leisure in the Lives of South Korean Immigrants to New Zealand. Supervisors: S. Jackson and M. Sam (2010-2014)
  • Dr Adam Beissel (PhD): Sons of Samoa: The Corporeal Economy of American Samoa Gridiron Football (co-supervisor with Josh Newman)
  • Dr Minhyeok Tak (PhD): Sports on the gambling table: An institutional approach to match-fixing. Supervisors: S. Jackson and M. Sam
  • Luke Macris (PhD), The impact of governmental performance management and measurement systems on New Zealand sporting organisations (co-supervisor with Mike Sam).

Masters

  • Diego Moreno (MSc), Sport Policy in Chile: An Institutional Approach (co-supervisor with Mike Sam)
  • Nikki Timu (MPhEd): Sport and haka: A Kaupapa Maori perspective
  • Nicole Timu (MPhEd): Ngā tapuwae o te haka – Māori perspectives on haka in sport. Supervisors: S. Jackson and A.M. Jackson
  • Alene van der Hoop (Master of International Studies) Organized Games for Political Gain? An examination of the New Zealand experience of sport, diplomacy and the Rugby World Cup 2011. (co-supervisor with Robert Patman)
  • Kieran Cody (Masters): The Law Commission, Alcohol Sponsorship of Sport and Public Policy in New Zealand
  • Sofia Kalogeropoulou (Masters): Dancing Greekness: Folk Dance and National Identity in Greece (co-supervisor)
  • Alistair John (Masters): Globalisation, Corporate Nationalism & The America's Cup
  • Amy Wallace (Masters): Naked Women Talk About Rugby: Understanding Women's Experiences of Male Sporting Culture
  • Andrew Grainger (Masters): Globalization, Media Violence and Sports Advertising: A critical Analysis of Social Policy and Cultural Resistance in New Zealand
  • David Chisholm (Masters): Breaking the Code of Silence: Media Constructions of violence in Australian Rugby League.

Honours

  • N. Britten (BPhEd Honours). The Contested Terrain of Sport, Religion and Alcohol Sponsorship
  • N. Herron ( BPhEd Honours). The Contested Terrain of Crossfit as a Contemporary Cult of Fitness
  • J. Cheshire (BPhEd Honours): Impact of Digital Technology on Sports Journalism
  • J. Collier (BPhEd Honours): Gym culture and the contested terrain of gender
  • T. Bryant (BPhEd Honours): The Song Remains the Same: A Subcultural Analysis of a University Football Club's Contested Terrain of Values, Experiences and Identities
  • M. Smaill (BPhEd Honours): Sport-related beer advertising and the construction and interpretation of gendered identities in New Zealand
  • S. Cherry (BPhEd Honours): Our Stadium Sold For Millions: The Promotional Culture of the 2011 Rugby World Cup as a Contested Terrain
  • D. Everitt, (BPhEd Honours): How Kiwi  Kids Become All Black Kids': Advertising and the Representation and Consumption of New Zealand National Identity
  • R. Turner (BPhEd Honours): Globalisation and Local Culture: Expressions of hip hop culture amongst New Zealand youth
  • C. Wolfensohn (BPhEd Honours): Sport, Media and the Sexualisation of Male Athletes: The Toffee Pops Phenomenon
  • A. Dunn (BPhEd Honours): It's a hard road finding the perfect man –rugby and male social status in high school
  • J. Thornhill (BPhEd Honours): Kiana's Flex Appeal: The Media's Representation of the female body image in sports
  • N. Aston (BPhEd Honours): Making visible the invisible: A study of contemporary Nike advertisements and their representation of the female athlete
  • D. Harding (BPhEd Honours): A Nation at Risk: The social construction of risk as part of New Zealand's culture and identity
  • J. Lynch (BPhEd Honours): Don't be such a girl: Gender, language and power in TVNZ's Mountain Dew On the Edge
  • N. Hercus (BPhEd Honours): Netball girls and rugby men: Televised sports commentary and the marginalisation of female athletic achievements
  • M. Trevelyan (BPhEd Honours): Clash of the codes: An examination of media representations of violence
  • D. Chisholm (BPhEd Honours): The code of silence: Media constructions of violence in 1993 State of Origin Rugby League.

Postdoctoral Supervision

  • Dr Lucie Schoch (France/Switzerland)
  • Dr Janelle Joseph  (Canada)
  • Dr Naoki Chiba (Japan)
  • Dr Nammi Lee (Korea)
  • Dr Ji hyun Cho (Korea)

Publications

Moreno, D., Sam, M. P., & Jackson, S. J. (2024). Sport policy reforms in Chile: The tension between ‘doers’ and ‘thinkers’. International Journal of Sport Policy & Politics. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1080/19406940.2024.2304856

Jackson, S., Sam, M., Porter, D., & Dawson, M. (2023). The well-being pandemic: Outline of a contested terrain and research agenda. Proceedings of the International Sociological Association (ISA) XX World Congress of Sociology. (pp. 343). Madrid, Spain: International Sociological Association. Retrieved from https://www.isa-sociology.org/en

Tak, M., Jackson, S. J., & Sam, M. P. (2023). Traces of (dis)organised crime in sports gambling: A case study of the 2011 K-League match-fixing scandal. Trends in Organized Crime. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1007/s12117-023-09518-w

Jackson, S. J., & Kobayashi, K. (2023). Sport mega-events and the contested terrain of space, bodies and commodities: The politics and complexities of 2019 Rugby World Cup. In K. Kobayashi, J. Horne, Y. Cho & J. W. Lee (Eds.), Sports mega-events in Asia. (pp. 223-243). Singapore: Palgrave Macmillan. doi: 10.1007/978-981-99-0011-4_10

Jackson, S. J. (2023). Sport, advertising, and promotional culture. In L. A. Wenner (Ed.), Oxford handbook of sport and society. (pp. 1089-1110). New York, NY: Oxford University Press. doi: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780197519011.013.57

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