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Paul O'Connor @peejayohhsee.bsky.social · Jul 5

Thanks for all the support Leisure studies @skateorphi.bsky.social @indigowilling.bsky.social & Clifton Evers.

Reposted by Paul O'Connor

Leisure Studies Journal @leisurestudies.bsky.social · Jul 2

Most Cited Research Article 🛹

Skateboarding in the Anthropocene: Grey spaces of polluted leisure.

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

#Skateboarding #Leisure #GreySpaces

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Reposted by Paul O'Connor

Leisure Studies Journal @leisurestudies.bsky.social · Jun 10

New Research Article 📚

The leisure of grey spaces, urban play and the chromatic turn.

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

#Leisure #GreySpaces #Environment

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Paul O'Connor @peejayohhsee.bsky.social · Jun 7

It frames and introduces the various articles from @alisonstenning.bsky.social @abikaras.bsky.social @skateorphi.bsky.social @chrisguymariano.bsky.social and many others...

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Paul O'Connor @peejayohhsee.bsky.social · Jun 7

The Editorial to our Special Issue on Grey Spaces and Chromatic Leisure for @leisurestudies.bsky.social is now published. @indigowilling.bsky.social @benjaminduester.bsky.social @sanderholsgens.bsky.social www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

The leisure of grey spaces, urban play and the chromatic turn

Published in Leisure Studies (Ahead of Print, 2025)

www.tandfonline.com

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Reposted by Paul O'Connor

Linda Kopitz @lindakopitz.bsky.social · Apr 14

Next up in our Seminar Series on ‘Playable Cities’ at @uvahumanities.bsky.social: On April 25, @peejayohhsee.bsky.social will give a guest lecture on “Play through the Grey Prism: Addressing Chromatic Leisure in Cities“ 🛹

www.cities.humanities.uva.nl/news/asca-ci... @carobirdsall.bsky.social

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Reposted by Paul O'Connor

Alison Stenning @alisonstenning.bsky.social · Mar 25

Lots of really interesting looking papers coming out in the “grey spaces” special issue of @leisurestudies.bsky.social - making time post-strike to read them all.

abi karas @abikaras.bsky.social · Mar 21

wrote about grey spaces, russia and the capitalocene. hope this enriches the chromatic leisure paradigm in some way ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

I believe that the use of the term ‘Capitalocene’, which locates climate change and ecological breakdown within the history of capitalism and colonialism is particularly relevant in the contemporary Russian context. This is not only due to the high levels of inequality experienced within the country but in particular because of Russia’s status as a petrostate and in light of its war against Ukraine, an explicitly imperial endeavour with wide-reaching environmental consequences

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Paul O'Connor @peejayohhsee.bsky.social · Mar 21

Fantastic new paper on Roofers and the grey spaces of the capitolocene framed by the skyline of St Petersburg. Bravo!

abi karas @abikaras.bsky.social · Mar 21

wrote about grey spaces, russia and the capitalocene. hope this enriches the chromatic leisure paradigm in some way ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

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Reposted by Paul O'Connor

Alison Stenning @alisonstenning.bsky.social · Mar 18

This is just a selection of the photos I’ve taken on Tyneside. It’s clear to see the kinds of spaces they are erected in - green & grey spaces on post-war estates, spaces that afford easy doorstep playing & hanging out, in communities experiencing disinvestment with few other accessible facilities.

A screenshot of some my iPhone album of photos of No Ball Games signs across Tyneside

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Paul O'Connor @peejayohhsee.bsky.social · Mar 18

3) And secondly Stephen Crossley, Gijs van Campenhout and @lbilli91.bsky.social work on informal football in the UK is a perfect fit... www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

‘It’s a far cry from small boys in the park, jumpers for goalposts. Isn’t it?’ the changing space of informal youth football in the UK

It is often remarked that all that is required for children to play football are ‘jumpers for goalposts’. Space is also required, however, and so is permission to play, and to see the game through....

www.tandfonline.com

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Paul O'Connor @peejayohhsee.bsky.social · Mar 18

2) I have to flag two recent excellent papers that connect to the themes of this in the UK, Firstly @alisonstenning.bsky.social work on children's play in the streets www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Children’s play in grey spaces: ludic geographies and the chromatic turn

Children have long played in ‘grey spaces’, on doorsteps, roads, car parks, back lanes, but this ludic geography is not uncontested. Debates around the proper place for children’s outdoor play, in ...

www.tandfonline.com

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Paul O'Connor @peejayohhsee.bsky.social · Mar 18

1) Grey Play - taking down the no ball games signs on a Lambeth Housing Estate. Good to see the urban debate on play gathering momentum... www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

Yes, ball games: drive to take down signs warning against play begins in London

Charity says thousands of signs on capital’s estates deter children from being active, and is covering some of them up

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Paul O'Connor

Brian Glenney @skateorphi.bsky.social · Mar 13

I’m calling it, spring is here! @peejayohhsee.bsky.social in Rotterdam

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Paul O'Connor @peejayohhsee.bsky.social · Mar 12

A new article by @skateorphi.bsky.social 'Skateboarding, Pollution, Decolonisation' in Leisure Studies, another superb and novel contribution to our Special Issue on Chromatic Leisure and Grey Spaces. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Skateparks, pollution, and decolonisation

Street skateboarding, known for its appropriation of urban architecture and space, is thought to be a decolonialising force in city streets through its manifesting of Indigenous concepts such as th...

www.tandfonline.com

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Paul O'Connor @peejayohhsee.bsky.social · Mar 1

New Special Issue of Sport & Society on Surf and Skate scholarship. Papers on surfing mixed in with work on skate scenes in Tijuana and Northern Ireland, a paper on skaters of colour, and our own ( @skateorphi.bsky.social @texturologies.bsky.social ) on sound. www.tandfonline.com/toc/fcss20/2...

Sport in Society

Surfing and Skateboarding; Michael James Roberts,Kristin Lawler. Volume 28, Issue 2 of Sport in Society

www.tandfonline.com

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Paul O'Connor @peejayohhsee.bsky.social · Feb 21

Another valuable research paper on the therapeutic side of skateboarding. Really please to see this in print after spending some time in Inverness and seeing some of this project unfold with Mari and Marc. @leisure-studies.bsky.social - Open Access. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

A different gravitation: acceptance of authentic selves, becoming through doing, and support through connection within a Highland skatepark

Previous research has suggested that skateparks can provide spaces which enhance social, psychological and physical wellbeing, whilst building support and a sense of community. The purpose of this ...

www.tandfonline.com

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Reposted by Paul O'Connor

James Kneale @jameskneale.bsky.social · Feb 14

What a great idea and argument--looking forward to reading this

Alison Stenning @alisonstenning.bsky.social · Feb 14

This is something I’ve been thinking about for ages, and am pleased Leisure Studies’ special issue on “grey spaces” gave me a change to explore it.

As access to green space is widely promoted, I argue *for* play in grey space.

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Children's play in grey spaces: ludic geographies and the chromatic turn

Children have long played in 'grey spaces', on doorsteps, roads, car parks, back lanes, but this ludic geography is not uncontested. Debates around the proper place for children's outdoor play, in the UK and beyond, have recurred regularly, with the apparent superiority of green spaces being repeatedly promoted, from the emergence of the first 'play streets' in the mid-twentieth century to the centring and proximity to nature today. Based on research on play on streets in the UK, this paper argues for play in grey spaces. Children often express a preference for these spaces; the physical and social affordances of such grey spaces are many and varied and point to a more nuanced chromatic geography of play. Children's play reflects their valuing of these spaces and children animate - colour - grey spaces as they play in them. The presence of children in and around their neighbourhoods, in ambiguous, undervalued, interstitial spaces, can act as a catalyst for revaluing these spaces, opening possibilities for change and challenge. In all these ways, engaging in and reflecting on play in grey spaces can open up conversations, on the doorstep and beyond, which can - and do - connect to questions of social, spatial and environmental justice.

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Paul O'Connor @peejayohhsee.bsky.social · Feb 14

Fantastic paper by @alisonstenning.bsky.social on children's play in UK streets. Progressing the discussion of chromatic leisure and advocating for play in grey spaces. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Children’s play in grey spaces: ludic geographies and the chromatic turn

Children have long played in ‘grey spaces’, on doorsteps, roads, car parks, back lanes, but this ludic geography is not uncontested. Debates around the proper place for children’s outdoor play, in ...

www.tandfonline.com

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Paul O'Connor @peejayohhsee.bsky.social · Feb 12

The formalisation of leisure spaces seems to come at a cost for natural spaces, grass is replaced with 'all weather pitches' and 'football cages' more related in this great paper from our special issue on leisure grey spaces tackles informal football in the UK www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

www.tandfonline.com

Paul O'Connor @peejayohhsee.bsky.social · Feb 12

Turning Green Space into Grey space. This seems like an awful idea to transform 53 hectres of park into all weather pitches. Pleased that women's football is getting support, but need it come at the cost of the little urban green space available. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

‘Dark day for parks’: Plans to build Spurs academy on London green space approved

Residents had unsuccessfully challenged Enfield council in court over club’s plan to build pitches on rewilded area rich in bats and newts

www.theguardian.com

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Paul O'Connor @peejayohhsee.bsky.social · Jan 31

A short piece on our recent research paper exploring the sound of skateboarding. theconversation.com/the-sound-of...

The sound of skateboarding offers skaters a therapeutic way to connect with the city

It is as if the skateboard is an extended sensory appendage, to feel and hear the world at large.

theconversation.com

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Reposted by Paul O'Connor

Luke Billingham @lbilli91.bsky.social · Jan 11

New OPEN ACCESS paper by Stephen Crossley, Gijs van Campenhout and me, about the past, present & future of informal youth football in the UK.

Provides a history of informal football and highlights the dangers of formalisation, containment & instrumentalisation.

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

‘It’s a far cry from small boys in the park, jumpers for goalposts. Isn’t it?’ the changing space of informal youth football in the UK

It is often remarked that all that is required for children to play football are ‘jumpers for goalposts’. Space is also required, however, and so is permission to play, and to see the game through....

www.tandfonline.com

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Paul O'Connor @peejayohhsee.bsky.social · Jan 6

New Publication 'The Skater's Ear' addressing the sensory world of sound for skateboarders - Open Access and free to download www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

The skater’s ear: a sensuous complexity of skateboarding sound

The sound of skateboarding is an issue fraught in controversy: the sound is a common basis for public noise complaints as well as participant praises. We consider a possible basis for this controve...

www.tandfonline.com

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Paul O'Connor @peejayohhsee.bsky.social · Nov 28

New publication - taking a Jungian approach to #skateboarding www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

The Application of Carl Jung’s Thinking to Action Sports: A Skateboarding Case Study

This paper contributes to the development of psychoanalytical theory in sport philosophy. It addresses the work of Carl Jung and notes the paucity of discussion on his thinking in the realm of spor...

www.tandfonline.com

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Reposted by Paul O'Connor

Linda Kopitz @lindakopitz.bsky.social · Nov 26

In this year's #ASCA Cities Seminar (co-organized w/ @carobirdsall.bsky.social), we will approach the city through the lens of play with Ekim Tan, @peejayohhsee.bsky.social, Sam Hind, Christoph Borbach and Max Kanderske ✨ Open to all! www.cities.humanities.uva.nl/news/2024-20...

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