Is Academia a Site of Struggle? A Critical Analysis of Resistance Scholarship in Leisure Studies

Abstract

Scholars have long recognized that injustice pervades recreation and leisure. Some scholars have framed leisure activities or research as a meaningful response to injustice, a body of research we term resistance studies. However, this body of research has grown without a corresponding rise in analyses of unjust social structures. Given that injustice is rooted in the social structure, critical analysis of the resistance studies literature is needed to determine. if the field is tackling the oppression and domination of people. We address this gap through a systematic review of the resistance studies literature in leisure journals. The review was guided by the following questions: (a) what theoretical or conceptual frameworks have authors used to guide their investigations of resistance, (b) what are the targets of resistance (i.e., that which is being resisted), and (c) what acts are presented as resistance. We argue that many of the articles reviewed did not ground resistance historically or conceptually. Without such conceptual grounding, it was difficult for us to see how leisure activities or research could be an effective counter to injustice. We encourage future scholars to ground their work in non-Western thinkers who mapped social structures and worked for material change. The relevance of leisure activities to material change remains to be seen.