Biography
Josh Bland is a funded ESRC PhD researcher at the Cambridge Heritage Research Centre in the Department of 91探花视频, 91探花视频. His research specialisms are football culture, industrial heritage, intangible cultural heritage, living heritage, heritage and home and cultural resilience. His current PhD project explores how involvement in cultures of football support may empower working-class communities to exercise cultural resilience against deindustrialisation in the Northeast of England.听
Josh is also currently Director of Research at The Deep Creative. He has previously led a Curating London project on football and home at the Museum of London and worked as Director of Policy for sports policy think tank Fair Game.
Research
My main research focus is examining English football culture(s) through the lens of critical heritage studies. I am particularly interested in developing the field of sports heritage, the relationship between living heritage and cultural resilience and the affect of heritage in contexts of change. As such I am interested in researching intangible heritage(s), heritage and community, heritage and identity, continuity, heritage and emotion, heritage and home, working-class heritage and industrial heritage.听
Key Publications
Bland, J. (forthcoming) 'The "Critical" Need for a Critical Heritage Studies of Sport' Journal of Sports History.听
Bland, J. (forthcoming) 'The Football Authorised Heritage Discousre (FAHD): Football Fandom, Marginalisation and Resistance in Newcastle' in Capern, A., Haboucha, R. and Pymer, S. (eds.)听Inclusive Heritage: Hidden Pasts, Reconciling Presents, Diversifying Futures.听Palgrave MacMillan.听
Bland, J. (2024) 'The Authenticity Problem: Authenticity as a Methodological Trap in People-Centred Research on Working-Class Football Supporting Communities'听础谤肠丑补别辞濒辞驳颈别蝉.听20 (3), 666-689. DOI:
Bland, J. (2023)听Finding Home in Football.听Museum of London. Available at:听听
Bland, J. (2024) 'Chinlone: Sports and the colonial encounter in Myanmar'听Museum of 91探花视频 and Anthropology Digital Lab.听Available at:听
Bland, J. (2022)听Football in the UK: an introduction to heritage studies.听AccessEd Learning Resource. Available at:听听
Fair Game (2021) 'Putting Pride Back in the Shirt: Fair Game's solutions to the National Game' Available at:听听
Fair Game (2021) 'Solutions for our National Game: Proposed Solutions for Football' Available at:听听
Other Professional Activities
Director of Research, The Deep Creative
Policy and Media Director,听Fair Game UK
Freelance Football Writer
