Professor David Brown
Professor in the Sociology of Sport and Physical Culture
Cardiff School of Sport & Health Sciences
Overview
David Brown is Professor in the Sociology of Sport and Physical Culture. David’s research interests concern the development of interpretive and critical sociological understandings of the changing body-self-society relationship in the fields of sport, physical culture and physical education. Current areas of focus include the emergence of third space educators, dispositional change towards sustainability in sports cultures, and the development of practice theory and methods.
David is co-editor for the BSA Auto/Biography Review, and an editorial board member for the journals, International Studies in Sociology of Education, Revista de Artes Marciales Asiáticas, Corpus Mundi, Im@go. A Journal of the Social Imaginary and Societies. He is a member of the Scientific committee for The International Martial Arts and Combat Sports Scientific Society and a fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Within the school, David is vice chair of the Cardiff School of Sport and Health Sciences Professoriate and is active in undergraduate and postgraduate teaching and supervision.
Research Publications
“This is where…I built myself”: A Social Integration Perspective of the Taekwondo Club as a ‘Transcultural Venue’
Yun, J., Jennings, G. & Brown, D., 2026, (Accepted/In press) In: Martial Arts Studies.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Outdoor learning: Pedagogic concept, practice context and hybrid field.
Brown, D., Aldous, D., Penney, D., Young, N. & Dainty, G., 1 Dec 2025.Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper › peer-review
Taekwondo-In as a platform for the social integration of migrants
Yun, J. & Brown, D., 24 Nov 2025, In: Eracle: Journal of Sport and Social Sciences. 8, 1Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Discriminatory meme culture on football Twitter: Othering and racialisation through insensitive humour
Glynn, E., Brown, D. & Edwards, L., 25 Jan 2025, In: Media Watch. 16, 2, p. 138-169 32 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Pierre Bourdieu’s Critical Reflexive Sociology of Sport and Physical Culture
Brown, D., 2025, (Accepted/In press) Encyclopedia of the Sociology of Sport. Evans, A. B., Lenneis, V., McNarry, G. & Tjønndal, A. (eds.). Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Entry for encyclopedia/dictionary › peer-review
Taekwondo is part of me and I can’t give it up”: Risk, trauma and ontological security
Yun, J., Jennings, G. & Brown, D., 2025, (Accepted/In press) Risks and Safety in Combat Sports and Martial Arts: Comprehensive Approaches and Educational Perspectives. Groenen, H. & Porrovecchio, A. (eds.). Paris: Éditions L'HarmattanResearch output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review
Using Critical Social Theory as Professional Learning to Develop Scholar—Practitioners in Physical Education: The Example of Bourdieu’s Theory of Practice
Brown, D. H. K. & Lloyd, R. G., 3 Feb 2024, In: Education Sciences. 14, 2, p. 160 1 p., 160.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Why we need to re-envision the relationship between feminism and environmentalism in sport for a more sustainable sporting future
Beth, G. & Brown, D., 6 Apr 2023, Sport and Development.org: The International Platform on Sport and Development.Research output: Other contribution › peer-review
A case study of alcohol use among male university rugby players
Harris, M., Jones, C. & Brown, D., 2 Mar 2023, In: Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health. 15, 5, p. 654-668 15 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Sustaining the Martial Arts in Wales
Brown, D., 2023.Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper