Location of leisure: the New Economic Geography of leisure services

Understanding more about the geographic location of leisure services is an important quest for research. For a long time now in developed economies, almost all employment growth is occurring within the service sector. In this sector, leisure services are fast growers. This means that the location of these services is important for economic growth and for employment opportunities of local market areas. Regional policy-makers time and again highlight these sectors as future engines of growth. This paper investigates the role of local demand in determining the availability and the scale of various types of leisure services. The analysis is motivated by observed regularities that indicate large and persistent interregional differences in the location and growth of leisure services. Based on a New Economic Geography framework, we investigate the role of local and regional demand for the size of leisure services in geographically separate markets in Sweden. We use data for 290 Swedish municipalities for the period 2002–2013 and run year-municipality fixed-effects regressions. Our main findings suggest a strong dependency on local demand, and less on the demand originating from other regions.     

Baudrillard and leisure

Jean Baudrillard is widely recognized as one of the leading lights of post-modernist theory. Yet students of leisure appear to be either unaware or oddly impervious to the significance of his ideas for their work. This is surprising for Baudrillard's ideas are both relevant and challenging to the theoretical and applied sides of leisure studies. This paper attempts to pinpoint the relevance of Baudrillard's ideas and present a critical evaluation of them. His place in the tradition of leisure theory is discussed, and the conclusion points to the practical application of Baudrillard's arguments in exploring the simulated leisure environment.     

The future of leisure: making leisure work

The general subject of this paper is the future of leisure. It is suggested that the existing forecasts over the last forty years regarding the future of leisure - either leisure's abundance or its scarcity - depend upon taking leisure and work either segmentally or even as polar opposites. It is argued that recovering a basic idea found in Samuel Smiles' book Self-Help (1859) could go a long way toward establishing an identity between real work and real leisure. Smiles is typically read as a mere lyric poet and as a writer in part responsible for projecting upon his people horrid centres of industrialism by way of promoting what is historically referred to as the Victorian work ethic. But Smiles can be read differently. In this paper it is argued that Smiles' interpretation of self-help is so inclusive as to be useful in understanding the nature and significance of the future of leisure if, that is, we take leisure to be work.     

Paternalism,professionalism and public sector leisure provision: the boundaries of a leisure profession

A significant body of research has emerged concerning issues of the professionalization of, and professionalism in, leisure. Much of this literature has focused on the political and/or technical dimensions of the leisure professional and the customers or citizens they purport to serve. In this paper we offer a moral philosophical account of the relations between the paradigmatic leisure profession, leisure management, and its clientele. An account of the varieties of paternalism is developed and a more specific picture of professional paternalism in the context of leisure professions is articulated, while stopping short of providing a justification for the autonomy – respectful and disrespectful forms that they can take. We characterize the relations as necessarily involving moral authority, and not merely technical expertise, as is commonly supposed.     

In search of lost leisure: the impact of caregiving on leisure travel

One of the fastest growing market segments of the tourism industry over the last two decades is made up of consumers 55 years of age and older. As we enter the new millennium, over 50 million of these “mature adults” will find themselves on the edge of retirement, equipped with the freedom and financial means to travel, but restricted by a loved one who may become ill or disabled. The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of caregiving on the leisure travel behaviors of family caregivers and their care-recipients. Qualitative data collection and analysis methods were employed. In addition to identifying impediments (physical, social, emotional) to pursuing or maintaining leisure travel for caregivers of older adults, the qualitative analysis yielded other emergent themes such as changes in patterns and types of leisure travel, entitlement, resentment, and anger. Implications and recommendations for researchers and practitioners are included.     

Rojek,the sociological imagination and leisure

This article traces the historical development of Chris Rojek's writing and documents his distinctive contribution to contemporary debates about postmodern culture. Rojek has consistently sought to develop a coherent sociology of leisure and has sought to apply his sociological imagination to develop leisure studies as a field of study. However, there seems to be an ambivalence or reluctance to engage with Rojek's work on leisure theory. From the outset, his work is both critical and subversive as he challenges ‘conventional wisdom’, which associates leisure with free time and freedom. He argues that both concepts need to be contextualized and any quest for a universal theory of leisure is both illusory and idealistic - one cannot dislocate free time or quality of experience from the social and historical context in which it occurs. Rojek also takes to task critical paradigms of feminism and cultural studies, whilst favouring the contribution that postmodern perspectives can make to understanding leisure practices. The article traces the development of his ideas theorising about leisure by reviewing his seminal texts, Capitalism and Social Theory (1985), Ways of Escape (1993), Decentring Leisure (1995) and most recently, Leisure and Culture (2000).     

Characterizing constraints of leisure: a Foucaultian analysis of leisure constraints

Leisure constraint literature has typically assumed that constraints prevent or modify participation in leisure. In this paper, I take up the work of Michel Foucault (1926–1984) to show that social constraints are not merely restricting of leisure practices. When constraints are characterized as enabling as well as restricting, it is possible to explore when and how constraints enable and to plan to intervene with enabling constraints to improve the opportunities for participation. In order to show both the enabling and restricting effects of social constraints, the focus of the paper is first on how structural constraints of a leisure activity may restrict or enable participants. Next, as another way to emphasize that social constraints are enabling of leisure experience, Michel Foucault's work is taken up to demonstrate how constraints enable skill within a structure. Finally, structural constraints of identity are shown to impact on participation prior to engagement with a leisure experience.     

Editorial: leisure and wellbeing

A ‘new’ system of accrediting outdoor programmes, which is similar to regimes in the USA, Australia and England, has been developed in New Zealand. The accreditation system is based on the audit and accreditation of instructors and operators in the outdoors and has grown out of increasing concerns about safety. Initially, the system appears to be appealing, encouraging operators to be ‘transparent’ in their safety operations. Yet the discourses that underpin accreditation are complex and problematic. They are indicative of power relations that undermine operators' and instructors' experiences and abilities in the face of a socially constructed ‘need’ for audit. In this paper, we analyse the discourses that inform the creation and development of the audit and accreditation system, outlining some of its shortcomings and offering some alternatives to the dominant discourses that underpin it.     

Women,shopping and leisure

This paper examines the social antecedents, occupational experiences and problems currently challenging executive managers within the public leisure services in Britain. It describes those processes involved in an historic development which has seen leisure managers moving from the margin to occupy a more central role in local government, and explores the major dificulties currently challenging senior managers who have experienced this process of status transition, including: power conflicts with established professional groups, difficulties associated with one's role, mission, occupational identity and philosophy. All of these problems are addressed by different types of managers in different ways. The paper identifies four characteristic types of managerial executive in leisure: ‘The Traditionalist’, ‘The Sports Centred’. ‘The Generalist Graduate’ and ‘The Second Chance Careerist’, and relates each of these to different class, cultural, gender and occupational experiences. It suggests that, whereas in the past, work in leisure management was conventionally perceived to be a low status and marginal occupational largely colonized by the aspirant working class, this pattern is now rapidly changing. A new type of confident middle class generalist graduate who extols the virtues of ‘the amateur’ and ‘the good all-rounder’ is rapidly colonizing elite roles in leisure management. These people provide a new cohort of leadership which will face both the professional and social problems challenging the public leisure services in the 1990s.     

Creativity,self-expression and leisure

The links between creativity, self-expression and leisure practices are underexplored within leisure literature. Despite research that documents the centrality of leisure as a worked-at process of self-actualisation and self-identity, the practice of leisure is still predominately viewed as one of consumption rather than production and of passivity rather than creativity. This paper, supported by empirical evidence through qualitative research into the lives of users of the leisure spaces of the ‘provincial bohemia’ of the Ouseburn Valley, Newcastle upon Tyne, argues that there is a strong component of creativity in this group’s leisure activity. This component, we argue, has, in recent years, become more important for ‘aesthetic-reflexive’ social actors in particular, as acts of self-authored and individual-expressive creativity have become more central to economic production, and to social identity. The rise in creative leisure is strongly linked to the valorisation of the romantic-artistic ethic of inalienable creative self-expression and the rejection of mass and putatively passive forms of leisure consumption common within previous Fordist modes of economic production and social ordering.     

Measurement specification and leisure satisfaction

Abstract

A comparison of specific expressive and instrumental indicators of satisfaction were compared against general measures of satisfaction. Research was conducted to explore specific indicators of satisfaction which included expressive measures representing major intrinsic goals of a leisure activity and instrumental measures which serve to facilitate those goals. Expressive indicators of satisfaction involving core experiences were most salient in explaining variance in general measures of satisfaction. Specific instrumental indicators of satisfaction did not contribute significantly to explaining variance in general measures of satisfaction.     

Sport mega-events and leisure studies

Sport mega-events exemplify the power of elitism, commercialisation and consumerism in leisure services. Progressive leisure studies researchers can influence sport and leisure policy by investigating the broader sociocultural impacts of sport mega-events on individuals and communities, with the goal of promoting sport and cultural democracy.     

Fate control and leisure attitudes

It has been suggested that attitudes toward leisure may be affected by one's perception of the ability to control life's consequences. Rotter's I‐E scale was used in the present study to measure the perceived locus of control and was correlated with the scales of Neulingers Leisure Attitude Inventory. Results indicated that positive attitudes toward leisure were generally more associated with an external than an internal locus of control, i.e., with the perception that one's fate is to a large degree personally uncontrollable. These results are explained in terms of the confounding influence of work/achievement orientation in the measurement of and in the relationship of those variables. Implications for leisure counseling, leisure education, and therapeutic recreation are also discussed.     

Sociology and applied leisure research

Hendee, John C., “Sociology and Applied Leisure Research,” ANNALS OF TOURISM RESEARCH, Volume II, No. 3, January/February, 1975, pp. 155–162 — The importance of leisure activity as a social problem is growing and sociological research is challenged to contribute more to leisure problem areas with public or industrial policy implications. Leisure researchers must adapt their product to the current goal-oriented, cost-effective, budgeting criteria to compete for public money. Thus, the future of leisure research may depend partly on riding the coattails of applied work which is more easily funded. Studies linking leisure activity to broader society and the mainstream of sociological research are encouraged and, for example, might focus on: identifying the social meaning of recreating, improved techniques for predicting future use of leisure time and demand for leisure facilities, patterns and benefits of leisure activity. Joint ventures combining sociology and professional schools with policy and applied interests could help alleviate the sociologist's often neglected task of developing policy implication. In short, an appeal is made for relevant leisure research so that growth in the field may be supported by the utility of results.     

Little leisure in the Big Society

The Big Society is a government and governance project that brings into question the existing relationship between the state and the citizen in the UK. One aspect of that changing relationship is the way in which government is willing and able to govern the population’s discretionary or leisure time. The success of the Big Society is dependent on a reorientation of leisure time use towards civic or voluntary action. In this policy analysis, the Big Society concept is deconstructed to examine the importance of leisure as a key determinant in meeting policy objectives. Time-use evidence is reviewed to explore the difficult question of how much scope there is for a reorientation of time-use that will go some way to realising the ambitions of the Big Society. The invisibility of leisure as an operationalised policy concept is revealed as a factor that ultimately limits the success of the project. An argument for including leisure in the Big Society policy discourse and decision-making is presented.     

Reframing mass participation events as active leisure: Implications for tourism and leisure research

This paper proposes the term ‘active leisure events’ to ameliorate fragmentation of research concerned with ‘mass-participation’ events primarily aimed at non-elite participants. This literature is characterised by semantically diverse terminology despite such events sharing a range of unifying characteristics centring around an ethos of being open to all; fundamentally encouraging participation in physical activity; embodied, self-propelled mobility; use of re-ordered space; and providing a meeting place for nuanced social worlds. Despite their commonalities, active leisure events may also exhibit considerable inter-event variability. This paper presents an integrative review of existing literature, augmented by practice examples, to support more coherent theoretical and applied research efforts in this space. Based on this integrative review, the ‘active leisure events framework’ is proposed as a conceptual reference point to facilitate coherent and informed discourse, allowing tourism and leisure researchers and practitioners to clearly identify key characteristics of the events they engage with.