Contemporary perspectives in leisure : meanings, motives and lifelong learning

We are entering a new era of leisure. Quality rather than quantity is now the focus of researchers, policymakers and managers. Technological change, an ageing population and a harsh economic climate are changing the values and practices of leisure, as well as the relationship between leisure, society and the individual. __Contemporary Perspectives in Leisure__ uses a variety of disciplinary approaches to introduce the most important trends in contemporary leisure in the Twenty-First Century. With contributions from some of the leading international figures in modern leisure studies, the book examines key philosophical and theoretical debates around leisure, with reference to concepts such as happiness, enjoyment and quality of life, as well as the most interesting contemporary themes in leisure studies, from youth leisure and ‘dark’ leisure to technology and adventure. Understanding changes in leisure helps us to better understand changes in wider society. __Contemporary Perspectives in Leisure__ is a perfect companion to any course in leisure studies, and useful reading for any student or scholar working in sociology, cultural studies, recreation, tourism, sport, or social psychology. Cover 1 Half Title 2 Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Table of Contents 6 Contributors 9 Illustrations 14 Preface 15 Introduction 17 Part I: Meanings 24 1. Leisure in the laboratory and other strange notions: psychological research on the subjective nature of leisure 26 Experimental paradigms: a case for studying leisure experiences in the lab? 27 Alternative perspectives on leisure as a subjective phenomenon 29 Post hoc satisfaction – leisure after-the-fact 30 Definitional approach – leisure in the eye of the beholder 32 Immediate conscious experiences – topography of subjective leisure 34 A final note – neglected types of leisure experiences and subjective approaches? 38 2. Escape from time: experience the travel within 41 Introduction 41 Shifting priorities: the search for a more balanced life 42 Taking time to slow down 44 From fast to slow: the emergence of slow travel and tourism 45 A need for a simpler approach 47 Conclusion: slow leisure, a new notion? 49 3. Leisure, happiness and positive lifestyle 51 The limits of the idea of happiness 52 The three forms of leisure 53 Leisure and happiness: how do they differ? 55 Happiness in leisure: authentic and profound 58 Conclusion 60 4. Leisure, life, enjoyment and well-being 62 Work 64 Ageing 66 Enjoyment 67 The state and financial institutions 70 Unemployment 71 Well-being 73 Measuring national well-being 75 Sustainable well-being 75 5. Deviance, dark tourism and ‘dark leisure’: towards a (re)configuration of morality and the taboo in secular society 77 Introduction 77 Leisure and ‘deviance’: constructions of dark leisure 80 Secularisation, individualism and moral confusion – the role of ‘dark leisure’ 81 Reconfiguring morality and the taboo through dark leisure 83 Conclusion 85 Part II: Motives 88 6. The unsustainability of leisure: the sustainability of just leisure 90 Background 92 Linking sustainability and leisure 94 Implications for lifestyles: individual satisfaction to universal responsibility 95 Implications for just leisure, sustainability, and scholarship 97 Implications for just leisure, sustainability, and education 98 Implications for just leisure, sustainability, and leisure management 98 Conclusion 100 7. Playing in the great outdoors: risk and adventure activities in the twenty-first century 102 Origins 102 Introduction 103 Adventure, climbing and leisure 105 Leisure as freedom of choice 107 Mountains, adventure, freedom and leisure choice 109 Conclusion 114 8. Sites of serious leisure: acting up in space and place 116 Introduction 116 Serious leisure in space and place 116 Aesthetics in leisure place 119 Embodied place and the ‘serious encounter’ 124 Serious place affiliation and ‘centres out there’ 126 Understanding serious leisure 129 Conclusion 133 9. I am what I pretend to be: performance and deception in leisure 135 Introduction 135 Leisure and identity 136 Leisure roles and self-presentation: is it me I’m looking for – or someone else? 138 Deception or pretence in leisure? 140 10. The technological mediation of leisure in contemporary society 146 Computer gaming 146 Deviant leisure 148 Gaming as leisure activity 150 Social aspects of gaming 151 Leisure constraints – gender 152 Game content 153 Spaces 154 Young people, leisure and mediated sexual activity 155 Exposure to adult sexually explicit material 156 Impact of viewing SEM on young people 156 Creating, disseminating and receiving SEM or ‘sexting’ 158 Conclusion 159 11. How not to take the fun out of everything: facilitating volunteering and leisure 162 Introduction 162 Leisure and volunteering 164 Volunteering as serious leisure 165 Motivations for leisure and volunteering 169 Managing volunteers 172 Note 175 12. Youth and leisure experiences: youth cultures and social change in Britain since the early twentieth century 177 Introduction 177 Youth cultures in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries 178 Working class youth 180 Youth cultures in the 1950s and 1960s 182 Working class youth cultures: the teddy boys and their successors 184 Middle class youth cultures 186 Since the 1970s 187 Change in education 188 Cultural production and distribution 188 The extension of youth 189 Continuities 189 Globalisation and the new media 190 Conclusion 192 Part III: Lifelong learning 194 13. Reflective leisure, freedom and identity 196 One 197 Two 200 Three 204 Conclusion 207 14. The comprehensive leisure participation framework: theoretical foundation, cross-cultural variation, and practical implications 208 Self-determination theory 209 Theory of planned behaviour 210 Theoretical integration 211 Cross-cultural variation 213 Implication for leisure education and practice 215 Conclusion 217 15. Leisure, identities and personal growth 220 Introduction 220 Identities in modernity 221 Postmodern fragmentation of identities 223 A performative embodied middle ground 224 Leisure as a field for personal growth 226 Conclusion 227 16. Models of teaching in leisure education 230 Introduction 230 Learning for leisure in higher education 230 Models of teaching in leisure education 232 The leisured pedagogic orientation (LPO) model 238 The learning to experience leisure (LEL) model 241 Conclusion 244 17. To boldly go ... tales from a leisurist 247 Preface 247 Returning to the fold 250 Easing the unease and taking the plunge 252 The apprentice leisure researcher 255 Dabbling in project-based leisure 258 Postscript 261 Acknowledgements 262 Notes 262 Bibliography 263 Index 297 "We are entering a new era of leisure. Quality rather than quantity is now the focus of researchers, policymakers and managers. Technological change, an ageing population and a harsh economic climate are changing the values and practices of leisure, as well as the relationship between leisure, society and the individual. Contemporary Perspectives in Leisure uses a variety of disciplinary approaches to introduce the most important trends in contemporary leisure in the Twenty-First Century. With contributions from some of the leading international figures in modern leisure studies, the book examines key philosophical and theoretical debates around leisure, with reference to concepts such as happiness, enjoyment and quality of life, as well as the most interesting contemporary themes in leisure studies, from youth leisure and 'dark' leisure to technology and adventure. Understanding changes in leisure helps us to better understand changes in wider society. Contemporary Perspectives in Leisure is a perfect companion to any course in leisure studies, and useful reading for any student or scholar working in sociology, cultural studies, recreation, tourism, sport, or social psychology"-- Provided by publisher