Professor and Dean
BSc(Hons)(Melb), MSocSci(Natal), PhD(Macquarie)
Email doug.booth@otago.ac.nz
Background
Professor Booth began teaching in the social history of sports in 1994 before moving to the University of Waikato as a Professor of Sport and Leisure Studies in 2004. In 2007 he returned to the University of Otago to take up the position of Dean of the School of Physical Education, Sports and Exercise Sciences. In 2018 he became Professor Emeritus.
Professor Booth is an executive member of the Australian Society for Sports History and serves on the editorial boards of Rethinking History, Journal of Sport History, Sport History Review and Sporting Traditions.
Research
Professor Booth's research primarily focuses on political and cultural aspects of sport. Within this broad framework he has examined racism in South African sport, the politics of the olympic movement, the cultures of surfing and surf lifesaving, and the nature of extreme sport. His current research focuses on the historiography of sport history.
Postgraduate Students
Graduates
- Bethany Geckle: Queer World Making: Destabilizing Heteronormativity Through Skateboarding (2021)
- Sebastian Potgieter: (Re)Presenting 1981: Narrating the Springbok Tour (2020)
- Anita Harman: Guilt, Women and Exercise (2014)
- Fiona McLachlan: Pool Space: A Deconstruction and Reconfiguration of Public Swimming Pools (2012)
- Katie Fitzpatrick: Stop Playing Up! Youth, Class, Ethnicity, Gender, Health and Physical Education (2010)
- Geoff Kohe: Making it Ordinary: An Unexceptional History of the New Zealand Olympic Council and Sporting Ideals in the Dominion, c.1892-1936 (2010)
- Holly Thorpe: Boarders, Babes and Bad Asses: Theories of Female Physical Youth Cultures (2007)
- Brendan Hokowhitu: Te Mana Maori – Te Tatari I Nga Korero Parau (2002)
- Annemarie Jutel: Visions of Vice: Appearance and Policy in Feminine Body Image (2000)
Publications
Booth, D. (2023). Experiments in history: The voice of Bondi. Rethinking History. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1080/13642529.2022.2158644
Booth, D., Phillips, M. G., & Adams, C. (2022). Sport history: Past, present, future. In M. G. Phillips, D. Booth & C. Adams (Eds.), Routledge handbook of sport history. (pp. 391-394). Abingdon, UK: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9780429318306
Phillips, M. G., Booth, D., & Adams, C. (2022). Sport history journals: Introduction. In M. G. Phillips, D. Booth & C. Adams (Eds.), Routledge handbook of sport history. (pp. 315-322). Abingdon, UK: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9780429318306
Phillips, M. G., Booth, D., & Adams, C. (2022). Indigenous sport history: Introduction. In M. G. Phillips, D. Booth & C. Adams (Eds.), Routledge handbook of sport history. (pp. 269-274). Abingdon, UK: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9780429318306
Adams, C., Booth, D., & Phillips, M. G. (2022). Emerging themes: Introduction. In M. G. Phillips, D. Booth & C. Adams (Eds.), Routledge handbook of sport history. (pp. 199-203). Abingdon, UK: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9780429318306
Booth, D. (2011). Surfing: The ultimate guide. Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood Press, 155p.
Authored Book - Research
Booth, D. G. (2001). Australian Beach Cultures: The History of Sun, Sand and Surf. London: Frank Cass, 260p.
Authored Book - Research
Booth, D. G., & Tatz, C. (2000). One-Eyed: A View of Australian Sport. Sydney: Allen & Unwin, 268p.
Authored Book - Research
Booth, D. G. (1998). The Race Game: Politics and Sport in South Africa. London: Frank Cass, 250p.
Authored Book - Research
Phillips, M. G., Booth, D., & Adams, C. (Eds.). (2022). Routledge handbook of sport history. Abingdon, UK: Routledge, 430p. doi: 10.4324/9780429318306
Edited Book - Research
Booth, D., & Thorpe, H. (Eds.). (2007). Berkshire encyclopedia of extreme sports. Great Barrington, MA: Berkshire, 450p.
Edited Book - Research
Adams, C., Booth, D., & Phillips, M. G. (2022). Emerging themes: Introduction. In M. G. Phillips, D. Booth & C. Adams (Eds.), Routledge handbook of sport history. (pp. 199-203). Abingdon, UK: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9780429318306
Chapter in Book - Research
Booth, D., Adams, C., & Phillips, M. G. (2022). History and representing the sporting past: Introduction. In M. G. Phillips, D. Booth & C. Adams (Eds.), Routledge handbook of sport history. (pp. 9-15). Abingdon, UK: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9780429318306
Chapter in Book - Research
Booth, D., Adams, C., & Phillips, M. G. (2022). New perspectives on old themes: Introduction. In M. G. Phillips, D. Booth & C. Adams (Eds.), Routledge handbook of sport history. (pp. 93-99). Abingdon, UK: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9780429318306
Chapter in Book - Research
Phillips, M. G., Booth, D., & Adams, C. (2022). Indigenous sport history: Introduction. In M. G. Phillips, D. Booth & C. Adams (Eds.), Routledge handbook of sport history. (pp. 269-274). Abingdon, UK: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9780429318306
Chapter in Book - Research
Phillips, M. G., Booth, D., & Adams, C. (2022). Sport history journals: Introduction. In M. G. Phillips, D. Booth & C. Adams (Eds.), Routledge handbook of sport history. (pp. 315-322). Abingdon, UK: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9780429318306
Chapter in Book - Research
Booth, D. (2021). Mediating contested narratives of the globalization of sport: The case of surfing. In J. Maguire, K. Liston & M. Falcous (Eds.), The Palgrave handbook of globalization and sport. (pp. 363-384). London, UK: Palgrave McMillan. doi: 10.1057/978-1-137-56854-0_17
Chapter in Book - Research
Booth, D. (2018). Living with the beach: Representations of the Otago coast. In F. Steel (Ed.), New Zealand and the sea: Historical perspectives. (pp. 232-250). Wellington, New Zealand: Bridget Williams. doi: 10.7810/9780947518707
Chapter in Book - Research
Booth, D. (2017). Surfing: A global phenomenon. In R. Edelman & W. Wilson (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of sports history. (pp. 225-237). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Chapter in Book - Research
Booth, D. (2017). The political economy of surfing culture: Production, profit, and representation. In D. Z. Hough-Snee & A. S. Eastman (Eds.), The critical surf studies reader. (pp. 318-341). Duke University Press.
Chapter in Book - Research
Thorpe, H., Olive, R., Beall, B., Booth, D., Laurendeau, J., Palmer, C., … Wheaton, B. (2016). Looking back, moving forward? Reflections from early action sport researchers. In H. Thorpe & R. Olive (Eds.), Women in action sport cultures: Identity, politics and experience. (pp. 23-44). London, UK: Palgrave Macmillan. doi: 10.1057/978-1-137-45797-4_2
Chapter in Book - Research
Booth, D. (2015). Bruce Kidd, sport history, and social emancipation. In R. Field (Ed.), Playing for change: The continuing struggle for sport and recreation. (pp. 407-436). Toronto, Canada: University of Toronto Press.
Chapter in Book - Research
Booth, D., & Falcous, M. (2015). History, sociology and critical sport studies. In R. Giulianotti (Ed.), Routledge handbook of the sociology of sport. (pp. 153-163). Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.
Chapter in Book - Research
McLachlan, F., & Booth, D. (2015). Who's afraid of the Internet? Swimming in an infinite archive. In G. Osmond & M. G. Phillips (Eds.), Sport history in the digital era. (pp. 227-250). Urbana, Il: University of Illinois Press.
Chapter in Book - Research
Booth, D. (2014). Sport history: Modern and postmodern approaches. In P. Delheye (Ed.), Making sport history: Disciplines, identities and the historiography of sport. (pp. 71-99). Abingdon, UK: Routledge.
Chapter in Book - Research
Booth, D. (2013). Constructing knowledge: Histories of modern sport. In D. L. Andrews & B. Carrington (Eds.), A companion to sport. (pp. 23-40). Chichester, UK: Wiley-Blackwell. doi: 10.1002/9781118325261.ch1
Chapter in Book - Research
Booth, D. (2013). Politics, ethics, affects: Reflections on a historiographic turn. In R. Pringle & M. Phillips (Eds.), Examining sport histories: Power, paradigms, and reflexivity. (pp. 79-108). Morgantown, WV: Fitness Information Technology.
Chapter in Book - Research
Booth, D. (2012). Bondi Park: Making, practicing and performing a museum. In M. G. Phillips (Ed.), Representing the sporting past in museums and halls of fame. (pp. 204-230). New York: Routledge.
Chapter in Book - Research
Booth, D. (2011). Beach sports. In S. Georgakis & K. Russell (Eds.), Youth sport in Australia. (pp. 149-163). Sydney University Press.
Chapter in Book - Research
Booth, D. (2011). History, race, sport: From objective knowledge to socially-responsible narratives. In D. Adair (Ed.), Sport, race, and ethnicity: Narratives of difference and diversity. (pp. 13-39). Morgantown, WV: Fitness Information Technology.
Chapter in Book - Research
Booth, D. (2011). Sports. In K. Johnson & S. Jacobs (Eds.), Encyclopedia of South Africa. (pp. 276-280). London, UK: Lynne Rienner.
Chapter in Book - Research
Booth, D. (2010). Theory. In S. W. Pope & J. Nauright (Eds.), Routledge companion to sports history. (pp. 12-33). London: Routledge.
Chapter in Book - Research
Booth, D. (2007). Baumgartner, Felix. In D. Booth & H. Thorpe (Eds.), Berkshire encyclopedia of extreme sports. (pp. 26-27). Great Barrington, MA: Berkshire.
Chapter in Book - Research
Booth, D. (2007). Hamilton, Laird. In D. Booth & H. Thorpe (Eds.), Berkshire encyclopedia of extreme sports. (pp. 119-120). Great Barrington, MA: Berkshire.
Chapter in Book - Research
Booth, D. (2007). Noll, Greg. In D. Booth & H. Thorpe (Eds.), Berkshire encyclopedia of extreme sports. (pp. 215). Great Barrington, MA: Berkshire.
Chapter in Book - Research
Booth, D. (2007). Open water swimming. In D. Booth & H. Thorpe (Eds.), Berkshire encyclopedia of extreme sports. (pp. 217-222). Great Barrington, MA: Berkshire.
Chapter in Book - Research
Booth, D. (2007). Sport historiography in Aotearoa/New Zealand: Playing with the past. In C. Collins & S. Jackson (Eds.), Sport in Aotearoa/New Zealand society. (2nd ed.) (pp. 51-77). Melbourne, Australia: Thomson.
Chapter in Book - Research
Booth, D. (2007). Surfing. In D. Booth & H. Thorpe (Eds.), Berkshire encyclopedia of extreme sports. (pp. 317-323). Great Barrington, MA: Berkshire.
Chapter in Book - Research
Booth, D., & Thorpe, H. (2007). Meaning of extreme, The. In D. Booth & H. Thorpe (Eds.), Berkshire encyclopedia of extreme sports. (pp. 181-197). Great Barrington, MA: Berkshire.
Chapter in Book - Research
Booth, D. (2006). Managing pleasure and discipline: Clubbies. In E. Jaggard (Ed.), Between the flags: One hundred summers of Australian surf lifesaving. (pp. 75-106). Sydney, Australia: University of New South Wales Press.
Chapter in Book - Research
Booth, D. (2006). Sport historians: What do we do? How do we do it? In M. G. Phillips (Ed.), Deconstructing sport history: A postmodern analysis. (pp. 27-54). Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
Chapter in Book - Research
Booth, D. G. (2004). Surf lifesavers and surfers: Cultural and spatial conflict on the Australian beach. In P. Vertinsky & J. Bale (Eds.), Sites of sport. Space, place, experience. London: Routledge.
Chapter in Book - Research
Booth, D. G. (2003). Expression sessions: Surfing, style, and prestige. In R. E. Rinehart & S. Sydnor (Eds.), To the extreme: Alternative sports, inside and out. (pp. 315-336). New York: State University of New York Press.
Chapter in Book - Research
Loy, J., & Booth, D. G. (2002). Emile Durkheim: Structural functionalism and the sociology of sport. In J. Maguire & K. Young (Eds.), Theory, Sport and Society. (pp. 41-62). London: Elsevier Press.
Chapter in Book - Research
Booth, D. G. (2000). Modern sport: Emergence and experiences. In C. Collins (Ed.), Sport in New Zealand Society. (pp. 45-63). Palmerston North: Dunmore Press.
Chapter in Book - Research
Loy, J., & Booth, D. G. (2000). Functionalism, sport and society. In E. Dunning & J. Coakley (Eds.), The Handbook of Sport and Society. (pp. 8-27). London: Sage.
Chapter in Book - Research
Booth, D. G. (1996). Surfing. In D. Levinson & K. Christensen (Eds.), Encyclopedia of World Sport, vol.3. (pp. 984-990). Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO.
Chapter in Book - Research
Booth, D., Phillips, M. G., & Adams, C. (2022). Sport history: Past, present, future. In M. G. Phillips, D. Booth & C. Adams (Eds.), Routledge handbook of sport history. (pp. 391-394). Abingdon, UK: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9780429318306
Chapter in Book - Other
Phillips, M. G., Booth, D., & Adams, C. (2022). Introduction. In M. G. Phillips, D. Booth & C. Adams (Eds.), Routledge handbook of sport history. (pp. 1-6). Abingdon, UK: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9780429318306
Chapter in Book - Other
Booth, D. (2017). Colin Tatz: "Compelled to repair a flawed world". In N. Marczak & K. Shields (Eds.), Genocide Perspectives V: A global crime, Australian voices. (pp. 5-24). Sydney, Australia: UTS ePRESS.
Chapter in Book - Other
Booth, D. (2023). Experiments in history: The voice of Bondi. Rethinking History. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1080/13642529.2022.2158644
Journal - Research Article
Booth, D. (2020). Nature sports: Ontology, embodied being, politics. Annals of Leisure Research, 23(1), 19-33. doi: 10.1080/11745398.2018.1524306
Journal - Research Article
Booth, D. (2020). The burden of over-representation: Race, sport, and philosophy. Sociology of Sport Journal, 37(3), 271-272. doi: 10.1123/ssj.2019-0011
Journal - Research Article
Booth, D. (2019). Physical culture and the making and preservation of Bondi Beach. International Journal of the History of Sport, 36(6), 570-591. doi: 10.1080/09523367.2019.1575815
Journal - Research Article
Booth, D., & Thorpe, H. (2019). Form and performance in oral history (narratives): Historiographical insights from surfing and snowboarding. International Journal of the History of Sport, 36(13-14), 1136-1156. doi: 10.1080/09523367.2019.1703688
Journal - Research Article
