Professor Rebecca Cassidy

I'm currently working on a project about growing fruit, supported by a Leverhulme Major Research Fellowship. In the past I have worked on horseracing, and gambling. I'm interested in multispecies relations, political ecology, uncertainty, gender, kinship, class, inequality, public anthropology and policy.

My most recent book, Vicious Games (Pluto 2020), explored the gambling industry's affinity with capitalism and is based on over a decade of fieldwork with gambling businesses around the world. I've also co-written a report about conflicts of interest in gambling research called Fair Game (2014). A lot of gambling research has focused on the consumption of gambling by individuals who are represented as vulnerable or flawed in some shared way. My approach has been to focus instead on the production of dangerous products and flawed policies by corporations and governments.

My work in gambling developed from my interest in horseracing. I've written two monographs, Sport of Kings (2002) and Horse People (2007), about thoroughbred breeding and racing in Newmarket and Kentucky, respectively. Using fieldwork on studs and race tracks I've shown how horseracing and thoroughbred breeding depend on inequalities of class and gender that are naturalised in the day to day lives of racehorses, stable workers, jockeys, and trainers.

I've also edited collections of essays, with Molly Mullin, on the idea of domestication (Where the Wild Things are Now, 2007) with Claire Loussouarn and Andrea Pisac on new approaches to gambling research (Qualitative Research in Gambling, 2013) and about horseracing (Cassidy 2013).

My work on gambling has informed public debate about gambling policy in the UK and been widely reported in the media including The Daily Mail, Guardian, The New Statesman, The New York Times, Nature, and The New Scientist. The Labour Party used my work to launch a review of gambling and changes in policy including the creation of a mandatory levy to fund research and a ban on gambling advertising on footballer's shirts.

You can listen to me being interviewed on Thinking Allowed, BBC Radio 4, about gambling, masculinity in betting shops, and horseracing.

Publications

Books

• Vicious games: Capitalism and gambling. Pluto Books, 2020
• Horse People: thoroughbred culture in Lexington and Newmarket Cassidy, Rebecca. 2007. Horse People: thoroughbred culture in Lexington and Newmarket. Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 0801887038
• Sport of Kings: kinship, class and thoroughbred breeding in Newmarket Cassidy, Rebecca. 2002. Sport of Kings: kinship, class and thoroughbred breeding in Newmarket. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 052100487X

Edited Books

• Qualitative Research in Gambling: exploring the production and consumption of risk Cassidy, Rebecca; Loussouarn, Claire and Pisac, Andrea, eds. 2013. Qualitative Research in Gambling: exploring the production and consumption of risk. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-65938-3
• Cambridge Companion to Horseracing Cassidy, Rebecca, ed. 2013. Cambridge Companion to Horseracing. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781107618367
• Where the wild things are now: Domestication reconsidered Cassidy, Rebecca and Mullin, M.. 2007. Where the wild things are now: Domestication reconsidered. Berg. ISBN 1845201531

Book Sections

• Interviewing key informants from the corporate sector. Cassidy, Rebecca and Hawkins, Ben. 2017. Interviewing key informants from the corporate sector. In: Kelley Lee and Benjamin Hawkins, eds. Researching Corporations and Global Health Governance: An Interdisciplinary Guide. London; New York: Rowman & Littlefield, pp. 127-138. ISBN 9781783483600
• How Corporations Shape our Understanding of Problems with Gambling and their Solutions Cassidy, Rebecca. 2016. How Corporations Shape our Understanding of Problems with Gambling and their Solutions. In: Nora Kenworthy; Ross MacKenzie and Kelley Lee, eds. Case Studies on Corporations and Global Health Governance Impacts, Influence and Accountability. London: Rowman and Littlefield. ISBN 9781783483570
• Partial Convergence: Social Gaming and Real Money Gambling Cassidy, Rebecca. 2013. Partial Convergence: Social Gaming and Real Money Gambling. In: Rebecca Cassidy; Claire Loussouarn and Andrea Pisac, eds. Qualitative Research in Gambling Exploring the Production and Consumption of Risk. London: Routledge, pp. 74-91. ISBN 978-0-415-65938-3
• Against the Odds A Professional Gambler’s Narrative of Achievement Cassidy, Rebecca. 2013. Against the Odds A Professional Gambler’s Narrative of Achievement. In: , ed. The social life of achievement. Oxford: Berghahn, pp. 43-60. ISBN 978-1-78238-220-1
• Introduction to Cambridge Companion to Horseracing Cassidy, Rebecca. 2013. Introduction to Cambridge Companion to Horseracing. In: , ed. Cambridge Companion to Horseracing. New York: Cambridge University Press, pp. 1-10. ISBN 9781107618367
• 'Aborescent culture: writing and not writing racehorse pedigrees' in Kinship and Beyond: The Genealogical Model Reconsidered. Sandra Bamford and James Leach, eds. 2009. Berghahn Books, New York Cassidy, Rebecca. 2009. 'Aborescent culture: writing and not writing racehorse pedigrees' in Kinship and Beyond: The Genealogical Model Reconsidered. Sandra Bamford and James Leach, eds. 2009. Berghahn Books, New York. In: Sandra Bamford and James Leach, eds. Kinship and Beyond: The Genealogical Model Reconsidered. 15 New York: Berghahn, pp. 24-49. ISBN 1845458966
• Zoosex and other relationships with animals Cassidy, Rebecca. 2009. Zoosex and other relationships with animals. In: Hastings Donnan and Fiona Magowan, eds. Transgressive Sex: subversion and control in erotic encounters. 13 Oxford and New York: Berghahn, pp. 91-112. ISBN 978-1-84545-539-2
• 'Zoophilia reconsidered’ (Chapter 5. Zoosex and Other Relationships with Animals) Cassidy, Rebecca. 2009. 'Zoophilia reconsidered’ (Chapter 5. Zoosex and Other Relationships with Animals). In: Hastings Donnan and Fiona Magowan, eds. Transgressive sex. 13 Oxford: Berghahn Press. ISBN 978-1-84545-539-2
• ‘Symbols and symbolism: animal’ Cassidy, Rebecca. 2008. ‘Symbols and symbolism: animal’. In: John Middleton and Joseph C Miller, eds. New Encyclopaedia of Africa. Charles Scribner’s Sons. ISBN 978-0684314549
• 'Le pur-sang dans la course, de Newmarket au Kentucky' Cassidy, Rebecca. 2007. 'Le pur-sang dans la course, de Newmarket au Kentucky'. In: Daniel Roche; Daniel Reytier; Nicole de Blomac and Michel Constantini, eds. A cheval! Ecuyer, amazons & cavaliers. Association pour l'academie d'art equestre de Versailles. ISBN 978-2913018037

Articles

• Learning from tobacco control to tackle gambling industry harms Van Schalkwyck, May C I; Hawkins, Benjamin; Cassidy, Rebecca; Collin, Jeff; Gilmore, Anna B and Petticrew, Mark. 2025. Learning from tobacco control to tackle gambling industry harms. British Medical Journal, 388(8457), e082866. ISSN 1759-2151
• How we can solve the crisis in UK gambling policy van Schalkwyk, May C I and Cassidy, Rebecca. 2024. How we can solve the crisis in UK gambling policy. British Medical Journal, 2024(384), q16. ISSN 1759-2151
• Health Above Profits – We Need a New Gambling Act van Schalkwyk, May C I; Cassidy, Rebecca; Blythe, Jenny and Ovenden, Niko. 2023. Health Above Profits – We Need a New Gambling Act. Critical Gambling Studies, ISSN 2563-190X
• The case for developing a cohesive systems approach to research across unhealthy commodity industries Knai, Cécile; Petticrew, Mark; Capewell, Simon; Cassidy, Rebecca; Collin, Jeff; Cummins, Steven; Eastmure, Elizabeth; Fafard, Patrick; Fitzgerald, Niamh; Gilmore, Anna B; Hawkins, Ben; Jensen, Jørgen Dejgård; Katikireddi, Srinivasa Vittal; Maani, Nason; Mays, Nicholas; Mwatsama, Modi; Nakkash, Rima; Orford, Jim F; Rutter, Harry; Savona, Natalie; van Schalkwyk, May C I and Weishaar, Heide. 2023. The case for developing a cohesive systems approach to research across unhealthy commodity industries. BMJ Global Health, 6(2), e003543. ISSN 2059-7908
• Harm built in—why the gambling industry needs a Silent Spring moment van Schalkwyk, May C I; Cassidy, Rebecca; Petticrew, Mark and McKee, Martin. 2023. Harm built in—why the gambling industry needs a Silent Spring moment. British Medical Journal, 2023(380), p. 203. ISSN 1759-2151
• Gambling disorder van Schalkwyk, May C I; McKee, Martin; Cassidy, Rebecca; Petticrew, Mark and Blythe, Jenny. 2022. Gambling disorder. The Lancet Psychiatry, 9(6), p. 429. ISSN 2215-0366
• A public health approach to gambling regulation: countering powerful influences van Schalkwyk, May C I; Petticrew, Mark; Cassidy, Rebecca; Adams, Peter; McKee, Martin; Reynolds, Jennifer and Orford, Jim. 2021. A public health approach to gambling regulation: countering powerful influences. The Lancet Public Health, 6(8), e614-e619. ISSN 2468-2667
• Young people's reflections on the factors contributing to the normalisation of gambling in Australia Nyemcsok, Christian; Thomas, Samantha L.; Pitt, Hannah; Pettigrew, Simone; Cassidy, Rebecca and Daube, Mike. 2021. Young people's reflections on the factors contributing to the normalisation of gambling in Australia. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 45(2), pp. 165-170. ISSN 1326-0200
• The visibility of gambling sponsorship in football related products marketed directly to children Djohari, Natalie; Weston, Gavin; Cassidy, Rebecca and Kulas-Reid, Ivana. 2021. The visibility of gambling sponsorship in football related products marketed directly to children. Soccer & Society, 22(7), pp. 769-777. ISSN 1466-0970
• Who uses custom sports betting products? Newall, Philip W. S.; Cassidy, Rebecca; Walasek, Lukasz; Ludvig, Elliot A. and Meyer, Caroline. 2021. Who uses custom sports betting products? Addiction Research & Theory, 29(2), pp. 148-154. ISSN 1606-6359
• ‘Everyone knows grandma’. Pathways to gambling venues in regional Australia Bestman, Amy; Thomas, Samantha L; Randle, Melanie; Pitt, Hannah; Cassidy, Rebecca and Daube, Mike. 2020. ‘Everyone knows grandma’. Pathways to gambling venues in regional Australia. Health Promotion International, 35(6), pp. 1273-1282. ISSN 0957-4824
• ‘It's a tradition to go down to the pokies on your 18th birthday’ – the normalisation of gambling for young women in Australia McCarthy, Simone; Thomas, Samantha; Pitt, Hannah; Daube, Mike and Cassidy, Rebecca. 2020. ‘It's a tradition to go down to the pokies on your 18th birthday’ – the normalisation of gambling for young women in Australia. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 44(5), pp. 376-381. ISSN 1326-0200
• Open letter from UK based academic scientists to the secretaries of state for digital, culture, media and sport and for health and social care regarding the need for independent funding for the prevention and treatment of gambling harms Wardle, Heather; Banks, James; Bebbington, Paul; Blank, Lindsey; Bowden Jones OBE, Henrietta; Bramley, Stephanie; Bunn, Christopher; Casey, Emma; Cassidy, Rebecca; Chamberlain, Samuel R; Close, James; Critchlow, Nathan; Dobbie, Fiona; Downs, Carolyn; Dymond, Simon; Fino, Emanuele; Goyder, Elizabeth; Gray, Cindy; Griffiths, Mark; Grindrod, Peter; Hogan, Lee; Hoon, Alice; Hunt, Kate; James, Richard; John, Bev; Manthorpe, Jill; McCambridge, Jim; McDaid, David; McKee, Martin; McManus, Sally; Moss, Antony; Norrie, Caroline; Nutt, David J; Orford, Jim; Pryce, Rob; Purves, Richard; Reith, Gerda; Roberts, Amanda; Roberts, Emmert; Roderique-Davies, Gareth; Rogers, Jim; Rogers, Robert D; Sharman, Stephen; Strang, John; Tunney, Richard; Turner, John; West, Robert and Zendle, David. 2020. Open letter from UK based academic scientists to the secretaries of state for digital, culture, media and sport and for health and social care regarding the need for independent funding for the prevention and treatment of gambling harms. British Medical Journal, 370, m2613. ISSN 1756-1833
• Gambling control: in support of a public health response to gambling van Schalkwyk, May C I; Cassidy, Rebecca; McKee, Martin and Petticrew, Mark. 2019. Gambling control: in support of a public health response to gambling. The Lancet, 393(10182), pp. 1680-1681. ISSN 0140-6736
• Recall and awareness of gambling advertising and sponsorship in sport in the UK: a study of young people and adults Djohari, Natalie; Weston, Gavin; Cassidy, Rebecca; Wemyss, Martyn and Thomas, Samantha. 2019. Recall and awareness of gambling advertising and sponsorship in sport in the UK: a study of young people and adults. Harm Reduction Journal, 16(24), pp. 1-12.
• Women and gambling-related harm: a narrative literature review and implications for research, policy, and practice McCarthy, Simone; Thomas, Samantha L.; Bellringer, Maria E. and Cassidy, Rebecca. 2019. Women and gambling-related harm: a narrative literature review and implications for research, policy, and practice. Harm Reduction Journal, 16(18)
• Young people’s recall and perceptions of gambling advertising and intentions to gamble on sport Nyemcsok, Christian; Thomas, Samantha L.; Bestman, Amy; Pitt, Hannah; Daube, Mike and Cassidy, Rebecca. 2018. Young people’s recall and perceptions of gambling advertising and intentions to gamble on sport. Journal of Behavioural Addictions, 7(4), pp. 1068-1078. ISSN 2062-5871
• Young people’s awareness of the timing and placement of gambling advertising on traditional and social media platforms: a study of 11–16-year-olds in Australia Thomas, Samantha L.; Bestman, Amy; Pitt, Hannah; Cassidy, Rebecca; McCarthy, Simone; Nyemcsok, Christian; Cowlishaw, Sean and Daube, Mike. 2018. Young people’s awareness of the timing and placement of gambling advertising on traditional and social media platforms: a study of 11–16-year-olds in Australia. Harm Reduction Journal, 15(51), ISSN 1477-7517
• Systems thinking as a framework for analysing commercial determinants of health Knai, C; Petticrew, M; Mays, N; Capewell, S; Cassidy, Rebecca; Cummins, S; Eastmure, E; Fafard, P; Hawkins, B and Jensen, J. 2018. Systems thinking as a framework for analysing commercial determinants of health. Milbank Quarterly, 96(3), pp. 472-498. ISSN 0887-378X
• ‘Nothing can be done until everything is done’: the use of complexity arguments by food, beverage, alcohol and gambling industries Petticrew, M; Katikireddi, SV; Knai, C; Cassidy, Rebecca; Hessari, NM; Thomas, J and Weishaar, H. 2017. ‘Nothing can be done until everything is done’: the use of complexity arguments by food, beverage, alcohol and gambling industries. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 71, pp. 1078-1083. ISSN 0143-005X
• On gambling research, social science, and the consequences of commercial gambling Cassidy, Rebecca; Adams, Peter; Livingstone, Charles; Markham, Francis; Reith, Gerda; Rintoul, Angela; Schull, Natasha; Woolley, Richard and Young, Martin. 2017. On gambling research, social science, and the consequences of commercial gambling. International Gambling Studies, ISSN 1445-9795
• Afterword: Manufacturing Gambling Cassidy, Rebecca. 2014. Afterword: Manufacturing Gambling. Oceania, 84(3), pp. 306-314. ISSN 1834-4461
• Fair game? Producing and publishing gambling research Cassidy, Rebecca. 2014. Fair game? Producing and publishing gambling research. International Gambling Studies, 14(3), pp. 345-353. ISSN 1445-9795
• 'A place for men to come and do their thing': constructing masculinities in betting shops in London. Cassidy, Rebecca. 2013. 'A place for men to come and do their thing': constructing masculinities in betting shops in London. British Journal of Sociology, 65(1), pp. 170-191. ISSN 0007-1315
• Horse versus machine: battles in the betting shop Cassidy, Rebecca. 2012. Horse versus machine: battles in the betting shop. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 18(2), pp. 266-284. ISSN 1359-0987
• Lives With Others: Climate Change and Human-Animal Relations Cassidy, Rebecca. 2012. Lives With Others: Climate Change and Human-Animal Relations. Annual Review of Anthropology, 41(1), pp. 21-36. ISSN 0084-6570
• Gambling as exchange: horserace betting in London Cassidy, Rebecca. 2010. Gambling as exchange: horserace betting in London. International Gambling Studies, 10(2), pp. 139-149. ISSN 1445-9795
• The horse, the Kyrgyz horse and the ‘Kyrgyz horse' Cassidy, Rebecca. 2009. The horse, the Kyrgyz horse and the ‘Kyrgyz horse'. Anthropology Today, 25(1), pp. 12-15. ISSN 0268540X
• ‘Casino capitalism’ and the financial crisis Cassidy, Rebecca. 2009. ‘Casino capitalism’ and the financial crisis. Anthropology Today, 25(4), pp. 10-13. ISSN 0268540X
• An anthropologist in the bookies Cassidy, Rebecca. 2009. An anthropologist in the bookies. Newsletter of the Society for the Study of Gambling, 43,
• 'Rethinking Cruelty'. Review of Just a Dog: understanding animal cruelty and ourselves, Arnold Arluke Cassidy, Rebecca. 2008. 'Rethinking Cruelty'. Review of Just a Dog: understanding animal cruelty and ourselves, Arnold Arluke. Current Anthropology, 49(4), pp. 757-758. ISSN 00113204
• Dolly mixtures: the remaking of genealogy – By Sarah Franklin Cassidy, Rebecca. 2008. Dolly mixtures: the remaking of genealogy – By Sarah Franklin. The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 14(1), pp. 227-228
• Review of The Animals Reader: the essential classic and contemporary writings Cassidy, Rebecca. 2008. Review of The Animals Reader: the essential classic and contemporary writings. Anthrozoos, 21, ISSN 0892-7936
• Book Review: 'Gambling and survival in native North America' by Paul Pasquaretta Cassidy, Rebecca. 2007. Book Review: 'Gambling and survival in native North America' by Paul Pasquaretta. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 13(3), pp. 753-754. ISSN 1359-0987
• Blood "Bon sang me saurait mentir". Reproduction d'hommes et de chevaux Newmarket Cassidy, Rebecca. 2007. Blood "Bon sang me saurait mentir". Reproduction d'hommes et de chevaux Newmarket. Ethnologie Française, 37(2), pp. 233-242. ISSN 00462616
• Zoosex Cassidy, Rebecca. 2007. Zoosex. Stimulus Respond: for the urban anthropologist, 18, 083-092
• Book Review: 'I Want to Know about the Dogs' Cassidy, Rebecca. 2006. Book Review: 'I Want to Know about the Dogs'. Theory, Culture & Society, 23(7-8), pp. 324-328. ISSN 0263-2764
• ‘Falling in love with horses: the international thoroughbred auction’ Cassidy, Rebecca. 2005. ‘Falling in love with horses: the international thoroughbred auction’. Society and Animals, 13(1), pp. 51-68. ISSN 1063-1119
• ‘Where is racing going?’ Cassidy, Rebecca. 2004. ‘Where is racing going?’. National Equine Student, 1, pp. 16-19
• ‘Turf Wars: Arab dimensions to British racehorse breeding’ Cassidy, Rebecca. 2003. ‘Turf Wars: Arab dimensions to British racehorse breeding’. Anthropology Today, 19(3), pp. 13-18
• The Social Practice of Racehorse Breeding Cassidy, Rebecca. 2002. The Social Practice of Racehorse Breeding. Society and Animals, 10(2), pp. 155-171. ISSN 1063-1119
• ‘On the human-animal boundary’ Cassidy, Rebecca. 2001. ‘On the human-animal boundary’. Anthrozoos: A Multidisciplinary Journal of The Interactions of People & Animals, 14(4), pp. 194-203. ISSN 0892-7936
• Are all men equal on the turf and under it?’ Cassidy, Rebecca. 2000. Are all men equal on the turf and under it?’. Newsletter for the Society for the Study of Gambling, 34, pp. 13-20.

Reports

• Frequency, duration and medium of advertisements for gambling and other risky products in commercial and public service broadcasts of English Premier League football. Cassidy, Rebecca and Ovenden, Niko. 2017. Frequency, duration and medium of advertisements for gambling and other risky products in commercial and public service broadcasts of English Premier League football.. Working Paper. SocArXiv

• Fair Game: producing gambling research Cassidy, Rebecca; Loussouarn, Claire and Pisac, Andrea. 2014. Fair Game: producing gambling research. Project Report. European Research Council, Goldsmiths University of London