Stay ConnectedUnderstanding Leisure in the Ever-Changing World
Understanding Leisure in the Ever-Changing World: Power, Privileges, and Promises is an interactive textbook that seeks, in the words of John Lewis, to inspire students to enact meaningful “good trouble, necessary trouble” (https://resources.newamericanhistory.org/for-students-good-trouble). This text asks students and all readers to consider some of the key issues related to understanding leisure at this social, political, and historical moment in time—the third decade of the 21st century. A central tenet of this book is that leisure is key to the functioning (and malfunctioning) of a democratic society. For example, the recent pandemic has led millions of people to reconsider the role of work and, by extension, leisure in their lives. #metoo and #blm (Black Lives Matter) movements have raised awareness of how leisure reproduces, but may also challenge and transform, social inequality and injustices. That is, this book provides students with the opportunity to understand and explore the various ways in which we can understand the constraints, the power, and the promise of leisure for individuals, communities, and societies. More than three dozen authors from across the U.S. and abroad challenge readers to examine the impact of leisure on how they see themselves, and their relationships with others and the world. The book is organized into five sections—Leisure and Me; Defining and Redefining Leisure; the Messiness and Complicatedness of Leisure; Engaging and/or Disengaging in Leisure; and the Challenges of Leisure. In each section and chapter, students are asked to read, reflect, and act on topics ranging from how much freedom we have in leisure, to why freedom is more an illusion than a reality for many, to the centrality of leisure, recreation and play for a democratic society. Understanding Leisure in the Ever-Changing World: Power, Privileges, and Promises makes full use of interactive media, providing links to relevant podcasts, videos, blogs, popular media, scholarly writing, etc. to engage readers in pressing issues of today.
Introduction
About the Contributors
Section 1: Leisure and Me
by Harrison P. Pinckney IV
Chapter 1The Emotional Labour of Being Ourselves
Jeremy Robinette
Chapter 2 Making an Account of Ourselves through Leisure: Spirit in Action
Annette M. Holba
Chapter 3 How Will I Spend My Life After College and Before I Retire?
Brooke Burk
Chapter 4 Thinking About Leisure and Consumption Through Music
Heather Mair
Chapter 5 The Essence of an Orange
Justin Harmon
Section 2: Defining and Redefining Leisure
by B. Dana Kivel
Chapter 6 Experiencing Leisure as “We Time”: The Solidarity of Leisure
Rudy Dunlap
Chapter 7 It’s All Good: A Brief History of Valuing Activities
Olivia McAnirlin and Harrison P. Pinckney IV
Chapter 8 Connecting with Self and Community Through Leisure, Recreation, and Play
Leah Joyner
Chapter 9 Beyond Time, Activity, and Experience: Defining Leisure for Health, Culture, and Equity
Dorothy L. Schmalz and Mariela Fernandez
Chapter 10 The McDonaldization of Leisure
Paul Stonehouse, Simon Beames, and Callie Schultz
Chapter 11 When and Where Can Leisure be Found and for Whom?
Fenton Litwiller
Section 3: The Messiness and Complicatedness of Leisure
by Valeria J. Freysinger
Chapter 12 “Who Am I”? Constructing Embodied Identities Through Leisure
Toni Liechty
Chapter 13 How Do I Spend My Time and Why?
Roz Kelsey and Rebecca Genoe
Chapter 14 Leisure, Society, and the Possibility
Felice Yuen
Chapter 15 Tourism Impacts: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly U.S. American
Lindsay E. Usher
Chapter 16: Thorns in Spite of Roses: Exposing Negative Consequences of Outdoor Recreation
Christopher J. Wynveen
Section 4: Engaging and/or Disengaging Leisure
by Harrison P. Pinckney IV
Chapter 17 Dreaming of “Leisure”: Escaping Labour for Self-Preservation
Kimberly J. Lopez, Lisbeth A. Berbary, and Becoming Coalition
Chapter 18 Neoliberalism and Leisure
Jeff Rose
Chapter 19 What Freedom Do I Have? Questioning Freedom Through Queer Leisure Experiences
Eric Knee
Chapter 20 Why Do You Like What You Like?
Brett Lashua
Chapter 21 How Do We Learn to Have/Find Pleasure?
Dan Henhawk
Chapter 22 Being Seen While Remaining Invisible: #BlackGirlMagic and the Rise of Black Woman-Centered Leisure
Corliss Outley and Nicole Webster
Section 5: The Challenges of Leisure
by Valeria J. Freysinger
Chapter 23 Who Controls Access to Leisure?
Troy Glover
Chapter 24 Privilege, Policy, and Public Lands: Who Has Access?
Akiebia Hicks and Aby Sène-Harper
Chapter 25 Leisure is the Status Quo: The Accepted Social Order
Rasul A. Mowatt
Chapter 26 The Promises and Limitations of Technology for Leisure
Melissa Weddell and Joy James
Chapter 27 Why Do I Feel Like I Have No Time?
Thomas Clanton
Conclusion
B. Dana Kivel, Valeria J. Freysinger, and Harrison P. Pinckney IV