Spencer Swain

The Palgrave Handbook of Leisure Theory

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.

The khat controversy: dark leisure in a liquid modern world

ABSTRACT This paper examines moral debates surrounding khat-chewing, a favoured pastime woven into the cultural fabric of countries located in the Horn of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. The ensuing discussion focuses on the moral perspectives that surround khat use within the Somali diaspora in the United Kingdom. Central to this debate is the moral implications of the British Government’s ban on khat - implemented in June 2014 - and the bitterness it has caused within the diaspora. These opinions are unpacked to highlight the difficulties of imposing rigid universal ethics, in a globalised world, prone to continuous movements of peoples and cultural practices. Here, Bauman’s (1993, 1995, 1998) concept of moral responsibility is applied to provide an understanding of morality - and dark leisure - that navigates a path in-between the deterministic scientific thought imposed by state administrators and the relativist position championed by postmodernists.

Special issue of journal for cultural research: Northernness, Northern Culture and Northern Narratives

Northernness, Northern Culture and Northern Narratives are a common aspect of popular culture. The North of England, like other Northernesses in Europe, is a palimpsest of narratives, myths, stereotypes and symbols. In politics and the public sphere of everyday culture, Northern Culture is paradoxically a site of resistance against an inauthentic South, a source of working-class identity, and a source of elite marginalisation. In cultural studies and wider, inter-disciplinary analyses of Northern Culture, such myth-making needs to be interrogated and explored. The purpose of this special issue is to provide a key to theorising about Northernness, and a platform to scholars working away at exposing the North in different aspects of culture. The aims of this special issue are twofold: to re-theorise ‘the North’ and Northern Culture and to highlight the ways in which constructions of Northernness and Northern Culture are constituted alongside other gender, racial and regional identities. The contributions presented here theorise Northernness in relation to space, leisure, gender, race, class, social realism, and everyday embodied practices. A main thematic thread that weaves all of these papers together is the notion that Northernness and ‘the North’ is both an imagined discursive construct and an embodied subjectivity, thus creating a paradox between reality and representation. Diverse in their theoretical positionings, methodological approaches and research contexts, the articles within this special issue speak to how Northern identities are not constituted or exist in isolation from other forms of identity but are dynamically intersectional and intricately embedded within popular culture discourses. The first section of the special issue aims to theoretically and empirically contextualise Northernness by critically unpacking how Northernness and northern identities have been previously discussed in cultural theory. Karl Spracklen’s paper offers a detailed critique of how common sense ideas of Northernness have been expressed in culture by and about the north. He provides a detailed historical and sociological mapping of how ‘the North’ and Northernness has been constructed hegemonically by outsiders and the ways in which it has been invented, performed and invoked by northerners in Britain. Spracklen focuses on three forms of popular culture – rugby league, art and poetry, and television – in order to demonstrate how representations of the north are aligned with working-class culture for middle-class sensibilities. He suggests that the concept of Northernness acts as a simulacram which serves to “exclude and marginalise people”. He concludes his discussion by demonstrating how Northernness has become a form of Frazerian sympathetic magic, a cultural practice that is performed

Strangers of the north: South Asians, cricket and the culture of ‘Yorkshireness’

As a county, Yorkshire is a ‘cultural region’: an imagined space, where culture is constructed, refined and articulated by a set of discursive relationships between local populations and a whole range of cultural forms. In this context however, culture is conceived as something which belongs to, and is only accessible by, certain groups of people. Our focus in this article is on the culture of Yorkshire cricket. Historically, Yorkshire cricket has been linked with White male privilege and some studies have shown that people within Yorkshire take a degree of pride in this. Consequently, the county and its cricket club have faced frequent accusations from minority ethnic communities of inveterate and institutionalised racism. Drawing upon Bauman’s notion of ‘liquid modernity’, we argue that the processes of deregulation and individualisation championed by New Right policies have led to a divorce between power and politics, a cornerstone of the old solid modern world. This in turn has led to an erosion of the state, causing individuals to navigate turbulent life projects which are consistently haunted by the spectres of fear and insecurity. Such an environment has caused cricket to be pushed further behind gated social spaces, in an attempt to maintain a semblance of ‘community’.

Looking for Leroy: illegible black masculinities

Looking for Leroy: Illegible Black Masculinities is part of the Postmillennial Pop series. The book provides an examination of contemporary African American male celebrity figures within popular culture from the 1980s right through to the present day. Drawing on a range of examples including actors, soul singers and rappers, Neal attempts to show how black male masculinities can be read as complex, a claim which he acknowledges runs as an antithesis to the dominant narrative of black masculinity being hypermasculine, deviant, and poor. Neal argues ‘...the most “eligible” black male body is often thought to be a criminal body and/or a body in need of policing or containment – incarceration – is just a reminder that the black male body that so seduces America is just as often the bogeyman that keeps America awake at night’ (p. 5). Neal begins the book by making reference to the character Leroy from the television show Fame, played by the actor Gene Anthony Ray. Neal argues that Leroy offered audiences a very different view of black masculinity.

Northernness, Northern Culture and Northern Narratives

Northernness, Northern culture and Northern narratives are a common aspect of popular culture, and the North of England, like other Northernnesses in Europe, is a collection of narratives, myths, stereotypes and symbols. In politics and everyday culture, Northern culture is paradoxically a site of resistance against an inauthentic South, a source of working-class identity, and a source of elite marginalisation. This book provides a key to theorising about Northernness, and a platform to scholars working away at exposing the North in different aspects of culture. The aims of this book are twofold: to re-theorise ‘the North’ and Northern culture and to highlight the ways in which constructions of Northernness and Northern culture are constituted alongside other gender, racial and regional identities. The contributions presented here theorise Northernness in relation to space, leisure, gender, race, class, social realism, and everyday embodied practices. A main thematic thread that weaves the whole book together is the notion that Northernness and ‘the North’ is both an imagined discursive construct and an embodied subjectivity, thus creating a paradox between the reality of ‘North’ and its representation. This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal for Cultural Research.

Leisure in the Current Interregnum: Exploring the Social Theories of Anthony Giddens and Zygmunt Bauman.

This chapter explores the role of leisure within the current interregnum, a period in human history that has seen the death of “solid” modernity and the transition to “liquid” modernity. Here, the chapter explains this development and its effect upon leisure, exploring the social theories of Anthony Giddens and Zygmunt Bauman to articulate whether this transition has provided individuals with freedom in their leisure time. It is argued that consumer capitalism causes members of society to become exposed to a negative form of liberty, offering people choice but reducing their feeling of security, inducing social division and alienation. The problems lead the chapter to call for a re-articulation of what leisure represents. A perspective that articulates how leisure time should be used to forge communicative rationalities that provide respect and tolerance is derived from democratic virtues that induce tolerance.