Capitalism and Leisure Theory PDF Download

Author: Chris Rojek
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317821211
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 221

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Book Description
First published in 1985, this title explores theories of leisure in a capitalist society. Basing his argument on a refutation of the conventional association of leisure with freedom and free time, Chris Rojek examines the four main structural characteristics of modern leisure practice: privatisation, individuation, commercialisation and pacification. The writings of Marx, Durkheim, Weber, and Freud are used to locate the question of leisure in more mainstream social theory. This interesting reissue will be of particular value to students of sociology and leisure studies, and those with an interest in the relationship between leisure and power.

Author: Chris Rojek
Publisher: Tavistock Publications
ISBN: 9780422790703
Category : Capitalism
Languages : en
Pages : 208

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Book Description

Author: Chris Rojek
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317821203
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 203

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Book Description
First published in 1985, this title explores theories of leisure in a capitalist society. Basing his argument on a refutation of the conventional association of leisure with freedom and free time, Chris Rojek examines the four main structural characteristics of modern leisure practice: privatisation, individuation, commercialisation and pacification. The writings of Marx, Durkheim, Weber, and Freud are used to locate the question of leisure in more mainstream social theory. This interesting reissue will be of particular value to students of sociology and leisure studies, and those with an interest in the relationship between leisure and power.

Author: C. Rojek
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 0230505112
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 251

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Book Description
Offering readers the most complete and authoritative critical introduction to Leisure Theory and written by one of the major figures in the field, the book provides an exciting and reliable guide to leisure forms, leisure practice and the representation of leisure. It demonstrates how power relations influence leisure choices and introduces students to the primary functions and regulative mechanisms of leisure, providing a thought provoking account of the central problems confronting students of leisure today. Written with the needs of students at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels in mind, the book will quickly be recognized as the bible for Leisure Theory.

Author: Chris Rojek
Publisher: SAGE
ISBN: 1848609655
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 224

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Book Description
This book explores the meaning of leisure in the context of key social formations of our time. Chris Rojek brings together the insights of feminsim, Marxism, Weber, Elias, Simmel, Nietzsche and Baudrillard to produce a survey - and rethinking - of leisure theory. At the same time he presents a radical critique of the traditional ′centring′ of leisure, on ′escape′, ′freedom′ and ′choice′. Revealing how leisure practices have responded to living in a risk society, he shows that ′free′ time becomes something very different when simulation and nostalgia lie at the heart of everyday life.

Author: Thorstein Veblen
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781496032706
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 280

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Book Description
The Theory of the Leisure Class: An Economic Study of Institutions (1899), by Thorstein Veblen, is an economic treatise and detailed social critique of conspicuous consumption, as a function of social-class consumerism, which proposes that the social strata and the division of labor of the feudal period continued into the modern era. The lords of the manor employed themselves in the economically useless practices of conspicuous consumption and conspicuous leisure, whilst the middle and lower classes were employed in the industrial occupations that support the whole of society; economically wasteful activities are those activities that do not contribute to the economy or to the material productivity required for the fruitful functioning of society. Veblen's analyses of business cycles and prices, and of the emergent technocratic division of labor by speciality (scientists, engineers, technologists) at the beginning of the 20th century proved to be accurate predictions of the nature of an industrial society. Background and reception The Theory of the Leisure Class was based on a trio of articles published in the American Journal of Sociology in 1898, and contained most of the major themes Veblen would develop in his later works. Upon its publication, one reviewer opined that the book "requires no other commendation for its scholarly performance than that which a casual reading of the work readily inspires", while William Dean Howells devoted two long reviews to it, and overnight the book became the vade mecum of the intelligentsia of the day: as an eminent sociologist told Veblen, "It fluttered the dovecotes of the East." This immediate success also came unexpectedly, including to Veblen. Criticism About author, book, and thesis of The Theory of the Leisure Class, the American intellectual H. L. Mencken said: Do I enjoy a decent bath because I know that John Smith cannot afford one-or because I delight in being clean? Do I admire Beethoven's Fifth Symphony because it is incomprehensible to Congressmen and Methodists-or because I genuinely love music? Do I prefer terrapin à la Maryland to fried liver, because plowhands must put up with the liver-or because the terrapin is intrinsically a more charming dose? - Mencken , Professor Veblen, Prejudices, First Series, 1919 Nonetheless, despite such disagreement, Mencken considered the game of golf to be a conspicuous leisure activity, of no useful function. Attempts at a definitive denotation of the theory of conspicuous consumption have been criticised as "élitist", most notably the pertinent works of Herbert Marcuse, wherein a group of hyper-educated people is empowered to define what items of consumption become luxury commodities. Robert Heilbroner said that, although valid for their late 19th-century time (the Gilded Age of the 1890s), the economic and sociological theories of Thorstein Veblen have limited, contemporary application, because the studies are specific to the societies of the U.S. and the city of Chicago.

Author: C. Rojek
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
ISBN: 9781403905697
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 243

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Book Description
Offering readers the most complete and authoritative critical introduction to Leisure Theory and written by one of the major figures in the field, the book provides an exciting and reliable guide to leisure forms, leisure practice and the representation of leisure. It demonstrates how power relations influence leisure choices and introduces students to the primary functions and regulative mechanisms of leisure, providing a thought provoking account of the central problems confronting students of leisure today. Written with the needs of students at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels in mind, the book will quickly be recognized as the bible for Leisure Theory.

Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

View

Book Description
This book explores the meaning of leisure in the context of key social formations of our time. Chris Rojek brings together the insights of feminsim, Marxism, Weber, Elias, Simmel, Nietzsche and Baudrillard to produce a survey - and rethinking - of leisure theory. At the same time he presents a radical critique of the traditional |centring' of leisure, on |escape', |freedom' and |choice'. He describes the relations between capitalism and leisure, the meaning of free time for workers in a capitalist system, and the gendered nature of leisure. He then discusses the social construction of leisure under modernity and the main competing arguments. Finally he examines postmodernity. Revealing how leisure practices have responded to living in a risk society, he shows that |free' time becomes something very different when simulation and nostalgia lie at the heart of everyday life.

Author: Thorstein Veblen
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781611041187
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 212

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Book Description
The Theory of the Leisure Class was first published in 1899 by the Norwegian-American economist and sociologist Thorstein Veblen while he was a professor at the University of Chicago. The Theory of the Leisure Class is considered one of the first detailed critiques of consumerism. In the book, Veblen argues that economic life is driven not by notions of utility, but by social vestiges from pre-historic times. Drawing examples from the contemporary period and anthropology, he held that much of today's society is a variation on early tribal life. According to Veblen, beginning with primitive tribes, people began to adopt a division of labor along certain lines. The "higher status" group monopolized war and hunting, while farming and cooking were considered inferior work. He argued this was due to barbarism and conquest of some tribes over others. Once conquerors took control, they relegated the more menial and labor-intensive jobs to the subjugated people, while retaining the more warlike and violent work for themselves. It did not matter that these "menial" jobs did more to support society (in Veblen's view) than the "higher" ones. Even within tribes that were initially free of conquerors or violence, Veblen argued that certain individuals, upon watching this labor division take place in other groups, began to emulate the behavior in higher-status groups. Veblen referred to the emerging ruling class as the "leisure class." He argued that while this class did perform some work and contributed to the tribe's well-being, it did so in only a minor, peripheral, and largely symbolic manner. For example, although hunting could provide the tribe with food, it was not as productive or reliable as farming or animal domestication, and compared with the latter types of work, was relatively easier to perform. Likewise, while tribes occasionally required warriors if a conflict broke out, Veblen argued that militaristic members of the leisure class retained their position-and, with it, exemption from menial work-even during the extremely long stretches of time when there was no war, even though they were perfectly capable of contributing to the tribe's "menial" work during times of peace. At the same time, Veblen claimed that the leisure class managed to retain its position through both direct and indirect coercion. For example, the leisure class reserved for itself the "honor" of warfare, and often prevented members of the lower classes from owning weapons or learning how to fight. At the same time, it made the rest of the tribe feel dependent on the leisure class's continued existence due to the fear of hostilities from other tribes or, as religions began to form, the hostility of imagined deities. Veblen argued that the first priests and religious leaders were members of the leisure class. To Veblen, society never grew out of this stage; it simply evolved different forms and expressions. For example, he noted that during the Middle Ages, only the nobility was allowed to hunt and fight wars. Likewise, in modern times, he noted that manual laborers usually make less money than white-collar workers.

Author: Karl Spracklen
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1137564792
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 943

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Book Description
This is the first handbook devoted entirely to leisure theory, charting the history and philosophy of leisure, theories in religion and culture, and rational theories of leisure in the Western philosophical tradition, as well as a range of socio-cultural theories from thinkers such as Adorno, Bauman, Weber and Marx. Drawing on contributions from experts in leisure studies from around the world, the four sections cover: traditional theories of leisure; rational theories of leisure; structural theories of leisure; and post-structural theories of leisure. The Palgrave Handbook of Leisure Theory is essential reading for students and scholars working in leisure studies, social theory as well as those working on the problem of leisure in the wider humanities and social sciences.