The Sociology of Leisure: an Estranged Child of Mainstream Sociology

Abstract

Starting with Veblen the rocky career of the sociology of leisure is traced up to the present. The field grows slowly during the first half of the twentieth century in North America and Britain and then from approximately 1950 to 1970 it enjoys a spurt of research. After that mainstream sociology in various ways abandons its progeny referred to here as subdisciplinary sociology of leisure. Fortunately, interdisciplinary sociology of leisure comes alive and continues to develop a vibrant, research-based conceptual foundation anchored in new ideas bubbling up from the interdisciplinary side and trickling down from the disciplinary mainstream. Despite this ferment the sociological mainstream remains seriously out of touch with what is happening in the sociological part of interdisciplinary leisure studies. This is most unfortunate. Leisure activities are universal and widely sought after. They are thus positive, a quality of social life to which mainstream sociology, being problem-centered, has given short shrift.

Towards a Critical Sociology of Children’s Leisure

“…In doing so, I have also drawn attention to the challenges such a critical child-centred approach faces within the sociology of leisure which has an adultbias built into it. Even if the sociology of leisure itself is an estranged child of mainstream sociology (Stebbins, 2018), real children and their lived childhoods have always been estranged and marginal to theory building within leisure sociology.…”

“…Leisure sociology despite its intellectual growth has remained somewhat isolated and estranged from mainstream sociology (Stebbins, 2018;Samdahl and Kelly, 1999). Similarly, the sociology of childhood has not managed to dislodge unidirectional models of socialization -that see children as passive receptacles of social instruction from mainstream sociology with textbooks and survey sources still largely ignoring children's lives or for that matter the scholarship emerging from childhood studies (Bühler-Niederberger, 2010).…”

“…Since then, sociological scholarship on leisure has proliferated along multiple axesasking importance questions about the social processes, institutions and actors involved in leisure and using leisure as a lens to understand wider social formations. At the same time the impact of leisure research on mainstream sociology or other social sciences has been rather thin on the ground, prompting scholars to rethink research agendas and advocate the need for establishing links with other fields of research to enhance visibility and impact of leisure scholarship (Stebbins, 2018;Fletcher et al, 2017;Shaw, 2000;Deem, 1999). Drawing on these sociological strands of leisure research, in this article I argue that leisure theory is adultcentric in its foundational assumptions and therefore studies on children's leisure undertaken by leisure sociologists have failed to enter into sustained dialogue with the sociology of childhood.…”

Fenomena Santai Dalam Kehidupan Masyarakat Desa Paul Kabupaten Tapin

“…Dalam gagasan Khaldun dan Veblen terdapat fenomena santai yang terabaikan sebagai fenomena sosial dalam kehidupan masyarakat sebab banyak pembaca hanya fokus pada perubahan sosial dan mengabaikan fenomena santai. Padahal keduanya termasuk dalam tokoh besar sosiologi serta menjadi pelopor studi aktivitas santai dan waktu luang dalam kehidupan masyarakat (Ibrahim, 1989;Alatas, 2017;Stebbins, 2018;Carr & Carr, 2023). Munculnya fenomena santai terjadi karena semakin banyak aktivitas harian yang kini telah terbantu oleh beragam alat teknologi baru dalam kehidupan masyarakat kontemporer dan efek emosi dalam riset sosiologi (Kraus, 1998;Scott & Fletcher, 2023).…”

Boş Zaman ve Rekreasyonun Tarihsel Perspektiften Sosyolojik Bir Değerlendirmesi ( A Sociological Evaluation of Leisure and Recreation from Historical Perspective )

“…Ekonomi ve felsefe eğitimi alan Veblen, temelde gösterişçi tüketime odaklanarak bu eseri kaleme almıştır. Boş zaman sosyolojisi 20. yüzyılın ilk yarısında Kuzey Amerika'da çok az ilgi görse de boş zaman konusundaki gözlemlerin genellikle sağduyuya dayandırıldığı eser, yüz yılı aşkın bir zamandır geçerliliğini korumaktadır (Stebbins, 2018). Boş zamana ilişkin teorik ilginin tohumu, 1950'lerde başlatılan sanayi toplumunun eleştirilerinde bulunabilir.…”