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Palgrave Macmillan

Constructing Leisure

Historical and Philosophical Debates

  • Book
  • © 2011

Overview

Authors:
  1. Karl Spracklen

    1. Leeds Metropolitan University, UK

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Table of contents (12 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-viii
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  2. Introduction

    • Karl Spracklen
    Pages 1-13

  3. Philosophy of Leisure

    • Karl Spracklen
    Pages 14-32

  4. Leisure and Human Nature

    • Karl Spracklen
    Pages 33-49

  5. Leisure in Classical History

    • Karl Spracklen
    Pages 50-66

  6. Leisure, Islam and Byzantium

    • Karl Spracklen
    Pages 67-83

  7. Leisure in the Middle Ages

    • Karl Spracklen
    Pages 84-101

  8. Leisure in Japan, China and India

    • Karl Spracklen
    Pages 102-120

  9. Early Modern Leisure

    • Karl Spracklen
    Pages 121-139

  10. Leisure in Modernity

    • Karl Spracklen
    Pages 140-156

  11. Leisure in Historiography

    • Karl Spracklen
    Pages 157-174

  12. Future Histories of Leisure

    • Karl Spracklen
    Pages 175-192

  13. Conclusions

    • Karl Spracklen
    Pages 193-198

  14. Back Matter

    Pages 199-224
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About this book

This book looks back at the meaning and purpose of leisure in the past. But this is not a simple social history of leisure. It is not enough to write a history of leisure on its own in fact, it is impossible without engaging in the debate about what counts as leisure (in the present and in the past). Writing a history of leisure, then, entails writing a philosophy of leisure: and any history needs to be a philosophical history as well. That is the purpose of this book. It provides an account of leisure through historical time, how leisure was constructed and understood by historical actors, how communicative reason and free will interacted with instrumentality at different times, how historians have reconstructed past leisure through historiography, and finally, how writers have perceived the meaning and purpose of leisure in alternative histories. Providing a sweeping overview of the field, Karl Spracklen charts how the concept of leisure was understood in Ancient history, through to modern times, and looks at leisure in different societies and cultures including Byzantium and Asian civilizations, as well as looking at leisure and Islam. Spracklen concludes with a chapter on future histories of leisure.

Reviews

'Spracklen's two books (both of which apply a Habermasian perspective to the study of leisure) are probably the most important contributions to leisure scholarship so far in the twenty-first century.' - Ken Roberts, Leisure Studies

Authors and Affiliations

  • Leeds Metropolitan University, UK

    Karl Spracklen

About the author

Karl Spracklen is Professor of Leisure Studies at Leeds Metropolitan University, UK. He has published papers on leisure, sport, tourism and identity and his previous publications include The Meaning and Purpose of Leisure and Sport and Challenges to Racism. New Books in Critical Theory have recently released a podcast about Professor Spracklen's book Whiteness and Leisure . You can listen to the interview, between Professor Spracklen and Dr Dave O'Brien, here: http://newbooksincriticaltheory.com/2014/09/12/karl-spracklen-whiteness-and-leisure-palgrave-macmillan-2013/

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