Positive Sociology of Leisure

Positive Sociology of Leisure
Author: Shintaro Kono
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 372
Release: 2020-06-24
Genre: Sports & Recreation
ISBN: 303041812X

This edited collection explores Positive Sociology of Leisure (PSL) as a subfield relating to leisure studies, sociology of leisure, and sociology of happiness. Defined as an area of research that examines social aspects of leisure life with a focus on the optimal functioning of relationship, group, community, organization, and other social units, PSL differs from more critical forms of sociology in that its starting point is social positives. The contributions draw on a range of diverse disciplinary backgrounds to consider various meanings of leisure across themes such as: ageing; sex, sexuality and family; community, youth, and education; and arts and creativity. Positive Sociology of Leisure will be a key reference within the field of sociology of leisure, as well as an important introductory book for those interested in leisure studies.

Sociology of Leisure

Sociology of Leisure
Author: C. Critcher
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 308
Release: 1995
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9780419194200

The sociology of leisure is an important part of most leisure and recreation management degree and leisure studies BTEC courses. This book is designed to provide essential material in an accessible form for students. It draws together 24 classic readings which provide comprehensive coverage of key conceptual debates in the sociology of leisure.

Serious Leisure

Serious Leisure
Author: Robert A. Stebbins
Publisher: Transaction Publishers
Total Pages: 177
Release: 2011-12-31
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1412809770

Serious Leisure offers a comprehensive view and analysis of the current state of the sociology of leisure. Defining and differentiating the way people use their free time, Stebbins divides such activity into categories of serious, casual, and project-based leisure that he further separates into a variety of types and subtypes. Together they comprise what he calls "serious leisure." In this perspective, serious leisure constitutes systematic pursuit of an amateur, hobbyist, or volunteer activity sufficiently substantial and interesting in nature and requiring special skills, knowledge, and experience. Casual leisure, though immediately, intrinsically rewarding, is by contrast a relatively short-lived pleasurable activity, requiring little or no special training to enjoy it. Project-based leisure is a short-term, reasonably complicated, occasional creative undertaking carried out in free time. Stebbins sets out the basic concepts and propositions that make up the three forms, focusing on their essential elements. He takes stock of the serious leisure literature as well as that for casual and project-based leisure. Stebbins sees "serious leisure" realized by way of a set of foundational concepts--organization, community, history, lifestyle, and culture--and several of their component areas. He reviews the history and background of the concept of serious leisure and then adds historical commentary on, first, casual leisure and, then, project-based leisure. Finally, he examines the future and the importance of the serious leisure perspective in a globalizing world, and some of its critical links with other fields of knowledge and practice, notably the nonprofit sector and preventive medicine. Together with its original insights, Serious Leisure offers a single, handy, coherent, comprehensive resource. It will be of interest to sociologists, labor studies specialists, and economists.

Freedom to Be

Freedom to Be
Author: John R. Kelly
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 386
Release: 2019-04-25
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0429515596

First published in 1987. Following an introductory chapter on the nature of theory and the outline of the book, there are eight chapters on the explanatory approaches, or models, employed in this dialectical analysis of the leisure industry. These models focus on particular elements of leisure: experience, decision, development, identities, interaction, institutions, political forces, and human definitions. With a new preface to the re-issue by the author, this title will be of great interest to students of Sociology and Leisure Studies.

The Labour of Leisure

The Labour of Leisure
Author: Chris Rojek
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Total Pages: 217
Release: 2010
Genre: Sports & Recreation
ISBN: 1412945534

Leisure has always been associated with freedom, choice and flexibility. The week-end and vacations were celebrated as 'time off'. In his compelling new book, Chris Rojek turns this shibboleth on its head to demonstrate how leisure has become a form of labour. Modern men and women are required to be competent, relevant and credible, not only in the work place but with their mates, children, parents and communities. The requisite empathy for others, socially acceptable values and correct forms of self-presentation demand work. Much of this work is concentrated in non-work activity, compromising traditional connections between leisure and freedom. Ranging widely from an analysis of the inflated aspirations of the leisure society thesis to the culture of deception that permeates leisure choice, Rojek shows how leisure is inextricably linked to emotional labour and intelligence. It is now a school for life. In challenging the orthodox understandings of freedom and free time, The Labour of Leisure sets out an indispensable new approach to the meaning of leisure. Chris Rojek is Professor of Sociology and Culture at Brunel University. In 2003 he was awarded the Allen V. Sapora Award for outstanding achievement in the field of leisure studies.

Leisure

Leisure
Author: Tony Blackshaw
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 192
Release: 2010-02-25
Genre: Crafts & Hobbies
ISBN: 1135146772

No single introductory book has until now captured the range of thought appropriate for scrutinizing the ambivalent idea of leisure. After analyzing key definitions, concepts and theories, Blackshaw offers his own theory of liquid leisure, which asks some demanding questions about the present and the future of the idea in people’s lives and its role in civil society.

Leisure Activities in Context

Leisure Activities in Context
Author: Robert A. Stebbins
Publisher: Transaction Publishers
Total Pages: 250
Release: 2016-12-31
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1412863767

There have been many analyses of leisure, drawing on the social, historical, cultural, temporal, and geographical contexts in which acts of leisure are pursued. Yet these studies lack a theoretical framework that can explain how leisure studies interact in various social contexts (cultural, temporal, or geographical), or as Robert A. Stebbins conceptualizes it, at levels of society. Here Stebbins explores leisure studies at society’s micro, meso, and macro levels. He considers all three as they manifest themselves in the everyday pursuit of leisure, while focusing on the heretofore neglected middle, which he calls the meso side of life. Stebbins not only draws these perspectives together, but does something no one else has: he focuses on the big picture of leisure. Leisure Activities in Context examines the entire micro-macro/agency-structure dimension, using theory and research from leisure studies and the sociology of leisure as the vehicles to accomplish this. This book will be a useful theoretical sourcebook on the study of leisure because it provides a blueprint of issues that scholars and students can use to draw deeper meaning from their own studies, and a framework for future research.

The Serious Leisure Perspective

The Serious Leisure Perspective
Author: Sam Elkington
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 239
Release: 2014-07-17
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1317810414

The "Serious Leisure Perspective" (SLP) is a theoretical framework that can help us understand the complexities of modern leisure as both an activity and an experience. Bringing together the study of serious leisure, casual leisure and project-based leisure, it is an essential component of the Leisure Studies curriculum and an invaluable tool for exploring the significance of leisure in contemporary society. This book is the first of offer a comprehensive introduction to the Serious Leisure Perspective, from fundamental principles and key concepts to in-depth and wide-ranging case studies of serious leisure pursuits. The book introduces the history of the SLP and its position alongside other social theories that attempt to explain the nature and function of leisure. It explores important themes such as consumption, gender relations, social capital and quality of life, and delves deeply into the leisure of amateurs, hobbyists, career volunteers and occupational devotees. Every chapter includes a range of useful pedagogical features, such as review questions and group exercises, to help the student to grasp the importance of understanding leisure as a way of understanding contemporary social life and society. Combining cutting-edge theory and method with an engaging and practical interface, this is an essential text for all Leisure Studies courses and illuminating reading for any student working in Tourism, Events, Sport, Recreation, Sociology or Cultural Studies.

The Palgrave Handbook of Leisure Theory

The Palgrave Handbook of Leisure Theory
Author: Karl Spracklen
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 943
Release: 2017-04-18
Genre: Sports & Recreation
ISBN: 1137564792

This is the first handbook devoted entirely to leisure theory, charting the history and philosophy of leisure, theories in religion and culture, and rational theories of leisure in the Western philosophical tradition, as well as a range of socio-cultural theories from thinkers such as Adorno, Bauman, Weber and Marx. Drawing on contributions from experts in leisure studies from around the world, the four sections cover: traditional theories of leisure; rational theories of leisure; structural theories of leisure; and post-structural theories of leisure. The Palgrave Handbook of Leisure Theory is essential reading for students and scholars working in leisure studies, social theory as well as those working on the problem of leisure in the wider humanities and social sciences.