Abstracts
of Annals of Leisure Research, Volume 1: 1998
Mercer, D. (1998). Australasian leisure
research looking back, looking forward. Annals of Leisure Research, 1,
1-18.
Journal
production in the leisure studies field is first placed in the wider context
of the 'information explosion' and the role of 'citation index' companies
such as the influential, US-based Institute for Scientific Information (ISI).
An overview is then presented of the three-volume ANZALS Leisure Research
Series (LRS) that appeared between 1993 and 1996. The key themes,
approaches and omissions are discussed and some thoughts are presented on
the field of 'leisure studies' in Australasia, its past evolution and future
prospects. It is suggested that debates surrounding the concept of 'social
capital' should be made a central focus of Australasian leisure research in
the coming years.
Markwell,
K. (1998). Space and place in gay men's leisure. Annals of Leisure
Research, 1, 19-36.
This
paper explores the use of spaces and places by gay men as sites for leisure
in the industrial city of Newcastle, NSW, Australia. Eleven gay men were
asked to photographically document the places/spaces in Newcastle which had
significance to them, and the resulting photographic collection was subject
to content analysis in order to uncover any discernible patterns. The men
were later interviewed about their photographs and this information was used
to help understand the ways in which these men make use of place and space
within the city, and the meanings they attach to those places. The
categories of photographs which accounted for just over 80 per cent of the
106 photographs were 'beats' (27%), privately owned places (25%), and
commercial leisure service providers (32%). The associated interviews
revealed some of the techniques and strategies employed by these men to
construct and live their lives within an overwhelmingly heterosexual
territory.
McCormack,
C. (1998). Memories bridge the gap between theory and practice in
women's leisure research. Annals of Leisure Research, 1,
37-50.
A
gap exists between women's leisure experiences and the theoretical
constructs available to them to talk about and investigate their
experiences. This paper suggests that the method of memory-work, by offering
women a framework for individually and collectively writing, sharing and
reflecting on their leisure related memories, can begin to bridge this gap.
Using this framework women participating in this research were able to
challenge the traditional view of holidays as leisure. Holidays as leisure
were problematic because they could contain four elements not assigned to
holidays by traditional leisure researchers: obligation, work, social
disapproval and responsibility. Participation in this research led some
women to discoveries about leisure in their lives which changed the way they
viewed leisure.
Betschild,
M., & Simmons, B. A. (1998). Dismantling health and leisure boundaries:
the interactive process of composing women's lives. Annals of
Leisure Research, 1, 51-66.
In
this paper we show how culture embodies taken-for-granted epistemologies
about social life and how specific discourses may define and inhibit our
lives in culturally expected ways. To discover how this constriction occurs
within western cultural meanings of health and of leisure, we identify three
distinct stages in western theory development: traditional, social and
socio-cultural discourses and apply them to the notions of health and
leisure. If we are to accept the findings of this enquiry – that women do
not differentiate leisure from all of life's experiences – we discover
that these three discourses limit our understanding of life's composition
processes, and will continue to reinforce fragmentation within social life.
Alternatively, if we challenge the boundaries in relation to health and
leisure and seek to understand the composition of women's lives as a whole,
we can proceed with a quite different research agenda.
Veal,
A. J., & Lynch, R. (1998). Leisure versus economics in the
development of legal gambling in Australia. Annals of Leisure
Research, 1, 67-84.
The
paper focuses on gambling as a form of leisure and notes that, despite its
prevalence around the world, it has been relatively neglected in the leisure
studies literature to date. An historical approach is used to analyse the
struggles between competing social and economic forces over the legitimacy
of gambling in Australia, and over the development of casinos in particular.
A framework for the study of leisure as a marginal, contested activity is
presented. This framework focuses on competing arguments for and against
gambling as espoused by various groups in the public debates over gambling
policies in Australia and other Western countries. The proposition is
developed that, while millions of participants are attracted to gambling as
a leisure activity, the recent growth of legal opportunities to gamble in
Australia, particularly in casinos, has been sanctioned almost entirely on
the basis of economic arguments.
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