Chris Rojek

Touring cultures: transformations of travel and theory.

It is becoming ever clearer that while people tour cultures, cultures and objects themselves are in a constant state of migration. This collection brings together some of the most influential writers in the field to examine the complex connections between tourism and cultural change and the relevance of tourist experience to current theoretical debates on space, time and identity.

Decorative Sociology: Towards a Critique of the Cultural Turn:

In this paper we outline a critique of ‘decorative sociology’ as a trend in contemporary sociology where ‘culture’ has eclipsed the ‘social’ and where literary interpretation has marginalized sociological methods. By the term ‘decorative sociology’ we mean a branch of modernist aesthetics which is devoted to a politicized, textual reading of society and culture. Although we acknowledge slippage between the textual and material levels of cultural analysis, notably in the output of the Birmingham School, we propose that the intellectual roots of cultural studies inevitably mean that the textual level is pre-eminent. In emphasizing the aesthetic dimension we seek to challenge the political self-image of decorative sociology as a contribution to political intervention. We argue that while the cultural turn has contributed to revising approaches to the relationships between identity and power, race and class, ideology and representation, it has done so chiefly at an aesthetic level. Following Davies (1993), we submit that the greatest achievement of the cultural turn has been to teach students to ‘read politically’. The effect of this upon concrete political action is an empirical question. Without wishing to minimize the political importance of cultural studies, our hypothesis is that, what might be called the ‘aestheticization of life’ has not translated fully into the politicization of culture. We argue that an adequate cultural sociology would have to be driven by an empirical research agenda, embrace an historical and comparative framework, and have a genuinely sociological focus, that is, a focus on the changing balance of power in Western capitalism. We reject the attempt to submerge the social in the cultural and outline the development of an alternative, integrated perspective on body, self and society. We conclude by briefly commenting on three sociological contributions to the comparative and historical study of cultural institutions which approximate this research agenda: Norbert Elias, Pierre Bourdieu and Richard Sennett.

Leisure theory: Retrospect and prospect.

Abstract The two main questions examined in this paper are: 1) What are the achievements of leisure theory at centurys end?; and 2) What are the prospects for theoretical developments in the future? The first half of the paper argues that theoretical discussion has been dominated by three positions: functionalism/post industrial society theory; structuralism; and postructuralism/postmodernism. Within this framework the specialized theory and research traditions in the subject can be located. The strengths and weaknesses of the three positions are discussed. The role of the “gladiatorial paradigm” in encouraging stereotyping and scapegoating is reviewed. The second half of the paper moves on to consider the key issues identified as: 1) exploring the meaning of leisure in post-Fordist society; 2) developing a theory of deviant leisure; 3) developing which full employment is already a thing of the past; and 4) investigating the changing balance of inequalities between the leisure rich and the leisure poor.

An outline of the action approach to leisure studies

This paper is a position paper. It seeks to set a new and distinctive approach to the study of leisure that combines theory, practice and ethics. It stands on the shoulders of ‘action sociology’, as represented in the Weberian tradition, and symbolic interactionism. But it offers a radical renewal of this perspective by relating action to ‘embodiment’, ‘emplacement’, ‘location’ and ‘context’, and repositioning leisure studies in relation to ‘care for the self’ and ‘care for the other’. The paper is concerned to elucidate a renewed action approach and to demonstrate its value for the study of leisure. It does not aim to compare or contrast this approach systematically with other positions in the field. The action approach identifies ‘testing’ to be a duty of all theoretical propositions. It regards leisure to be intrinsically political. The paper distinguishes the differences between postmodernism and the action approach. The paper ends with a suggested research agenda.

The Consumerist Syndrome in Contemporary Society An interview with Zygmunt Bauman

This interview examines the relations between production and consumption and the significance of what Bauman calls ‘the consumerist syndrome’. The latter is defined by the desire for instant satisfaction. The article distinguishes the consumerist syndrome from Veblen’s concept of conspicuous consumption. It breaks with the 20th century practice of regarding consumer preoccupations and activities as derivative of needs and suggests that consumption is now driven by infinite desire. Bauman sets the consumer syndrome in relation to his concept of liquid modernity. The choices of the modern consumer are set against unfulfilled options. The notion of using consumption as a form of resistance is examined and criticized. The article concludes with some reflections on the condition of sociological activity today.

Leisure and the rich today: Veblen's thesis after a century

This paper calls for a revisionist reading of the thesis of the leisure class. Veblens great work The Theory of the Leisure Class (1899) argued that society is ruled by a leisure class. The primary identifying characteristics of this class are prodigious wealth, voluntary abnegation from pecuniary labour and conspicuous consumption. Veblens argument suggested the decomposition of the work ethic because the characteristics cultivated by the rich would be emulated by the lower orders. Schors The Overworked American (1991) work suggests that overwork, not leisure is one of the primary identifying characteristics of postwar culture. The article uses statistical and biographical data on the rich today to provide a counterpoint to Veblens thesis. It is argued that the rich are not characterized by a rejection of work. On the contrary the richest people in the world typically work longer hours than the average. For these individuals work adopts a play form which probably contrasts sharply with wider social experience. Data on the leisure of Bill Gates, Warren Buffett and Richard Branson is examined to assemble a position on leisure and the rich which contrasts with the Veblen thesis.

Abnormal leisure: invasive, mephitic and wild forms.

Abstract Twinning leisure with positive experience is the field orthodoxy. There are good reasons for this. In bidding for scarce resources, leisure professionals need to emphasize the social benefits of leisure investment. The cost is that our understanding of leisure is distorted by accentuating the positive side of experience. This paper argues that leisure studies have allowed the parameters of leisure to be defined by a medical model of social practice. Abnormal leisure has been treated as the sphere of medical practitioners, psychoanalysts and criminologists. There is no substantive reason why this is the case. Indeed the paper suggests that the relaxation of rules and inhibitions associated with many forms of leisure means that there is an elective affinity between leisure and deviant activity. In order to correct the medicalized view of leisure it is necessary to challenge both the view of leisure professionals that leisure, is about positive experience, and the category of abnormal behaviour. The...

P2P leisure exchange : Net banditry and the policing of intellectual property

Abstract This paper examines P2P (file sharing) culture as a novel leisure form. P2P raises significant issues about the ownership and control of intellectual and artistic property, access and the regulation of leisure choice. The paper examines the efforts of the recording industry to suppress file‐sharing technology. It examines the limitations on this strategy associated with globalized leisure culture. Following the World Leisure and Recreation Association’s ‘Sao Paulo Declaration’ (1998), it is possible to interpret P2P as a leisure form that fosters social inclusion, empowerment and distributive justice. This leaves the recording industry in the awkward position of seeking both to impose limitations on the functionality of computer exchange technology and to regulate participation in a mass popular cultural and leisure form. The culture of down‐loading is located in relation to the tradition of social banditry. Down‐loading is presented as part of much more long‐standing, deeply rooted traditions of leisure practice in which identity formation and resistance to regimes of power are mediated. Net technology and the corresponding supply of intellectual and artistic property on the net is regarded as weakening the orthodox distinction between licit and illicit consumption and leisure. The paper closes by speculating upon the theoretical implications of these social and cultural developments for the study of leisure.

Leisure and life politics

From the debate on the transformation of society, two theses have emerged which are of central relevance to social thought regarding leisure. First, the post work thesis argues that society is moving into a condition in which the cybernation of labor dramatically reduces the working week and the concomitant notion of the work career. One task of social theory is therefore the review of resource distribution, notably time allocation, in the light of the radically revised demand for labor. The second thesis is that the established institutions of politics, especially party politics, are of declining significance in everyday life and that they are being replaced by life politics, that is, a syncretic, non-party form of social and cultural orientation focusing on issues of lifestyle, environment, and globalization. This article shows the relevance of the life politics and post work arguments for understanding the future of leisure. It examines the concept of civil labor and points to tensions with traditional ideas of leisure. It is a contribution to the debate on leisure policy and the projection of trends in leisure practice. Finally, it concludes that the relationship between leisure and citizenship rights will be of dominant importance in the unfolding debate on the future of leisure.

Sports Celebrity and the Civilizing Process

One of the most important concepts in the figurational/process sociological approach is also one of the most under-examined: functional democratization. This refers to the tendency of functional specialization and the division of labour to diminish imbalances in the power balance between groups. The essay discusses the concept and, drawing on Emile Durkheims concept of ‘egoism’, argues that the rise of celebrity culture provides an important challenge for the concept. The Sports Star is now the object of intense emotional attachment from fans. This exceeds an attachment based upon appreciation of sporting prowess. The leading Sports Stars, in common with the leading celebrities from celebrity culture, are adopted as role models by fans and their lives are followed as parables of normative behaviour. A new term, invasive egoism, is introduced to describe the development of fantasy relationships between the fan and the sports star. Invasive egoism can produce over-close identification between fans and their idols, so that the media representations of the stars life become the fulcrum for measuring changes and moments of significance in the life of the fan. The rise of the Sports Star is related to the onslaught of the commodification of sports culture.