Leisure as Source of Knowledge, Social Resilience and Public Commitment: Specialized Play

Description

This book provides a bottom-up contribution to contemporary political and cultural theory, by presenting leisure activities as a democratic arena. Where much of the existing literature on leisure and play views participants as consumers, Kjølsrød presents these people as producers, who conduct micro-processes of social protection, become informed and skilled, and achieve influence via complex leisure. Through an in-depth analysis of a range of leisure practices, this book demonstrates where players belong in the political landscapes of modern democracies. Leisure as Source of Knowledge, Social Resilience and Public Commitment will be of interest to students and scholars of leisure, recreational, and cultural studies, as well as sociologists, anthropologists and political scientists studying identity construction, emerging social worlds, and novel channels of political participation in contemporary society. Front Matter ....Pages i-xiii The Hidden Democracy (Lise Kjølsrød)....Pages 1-32 Structural Dynamics and Bounding Potential (Lise Kjølsrød)....Pages 33-59 Conceptions of Complex Leisure (Lise Kjølsrød)....Pages 61-82 Collectivity, Poetics, and Agency (Lise Kjølsrød)....Pages 83-99 Contingent Activism, Mediated Through Play (Lise Kjølsrød)....Pages 101-122 ‘Well, I become very fond of these works and have to touch, stroke and feel—sculptures and everything’ (Lise Kjølsrød)....Pages 123-144 ‘You can really start birdwatching in your backyard, and from there the sky’s the limit’ (Lise Kjølsrød)....Pages 145-168 Back Matter ....Pages 169-174