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. 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.

Table of Contents

• Acknowledgements
• List of Figures
• List of Tables
• Notes on Contributors
• Introduction to the Palgrave Handbook of Leisure Theory - Karl Spracklen, Brett Lashua, Erin Sharpe and Spencer Swain
• Part I Traditional Theories of Leisure - Erin Sharpe
• Introduction
• Islam and Leisure - Kristin Walseth and Mahfoud Amara
• Centring Leisure: A Hindu View of Leisure - Veena Sharma
• Listening to Nineteenth-Century Kanaka ‘Ōiwi Voices; Re-imagining the Possibilities for Leisure - Karen M. Fox and Lisa McDermott
• Leisure in Latin America: A Conceptual Analysis - Christianne Luce Gomes
• The Sabbath as the Ideal Manifestation of Leisure in Traditional Jewish Thought - Nitza Davidovich
• Leisure Activities in Southeast Asia, from Pre-colonial Times to the Present - Sarah Moser, Esther Clinton and Jeremy Wallach
• Sport, Leisure and Culture in Māori Society - Phil Borell and Hamuera Kahi
• Leisure Experience and Engaged Buddhism: Mindfulness as a Path to Freedom and Justice in Leisure Studies - Susan M. Arai
• Traditional Sport in Japan - Minoru Matsunami
• Leisure and the Dao - Steven Simpson and Samuel Cocks
• “Have Leisure and Know that I Am God”: Christianity and Leisure - Paul Heintzman
• Part II Rational Theories of Leisure - Karl Spracklen
• Introduction
• Leisure in Classical Greek Philosophy - Thanassis Samaras
• John Locke: Recreation, Morality and Paternalism in Leisure Policy - Ian Lamond
• Rebuking the Enlightenment Establishments, Bourgeois and Aristocratic: Rousseau's Ambivalence About Leisure - Matthew D. Mendham
• Contracting the Right to Roam - Wallace McNeish and Steve Olivier
• Leisure and Radical Jacobinism - Karl Spracklen
• John Stuart Mill and Leisure - Robert Snape
• Unproductive Leisure and Resented Work: A Brief Incursion in Hegel (and in Nietzsche) - Maria Manuel Baptista and Larissa Latif
• John Dewey: Purposeful Play as Leisure - Mary C. Breunig
• Durkheim and Leisure - Stratos Georgoulas
• Why Veblen Matters: The Role of Status Seeking in Contemporary Leisure - David Scott
• Max Weber and Leisure - Pauwke Berkers and Koen van Eijck
• Flow Theory and Leisure - Samuel D. Elkington
• Serious Leisure: Past, Present, and Possibilities - Karen Gallant
• Part III Structural Theories of Leisure - Spencer Swain
• Introduction
• Marx, Alienation and Dialectics Within Leisure - Bruce Erickson
• The Dialectics of Work and Leisure in Marx, Lukács, and Lefebvre - Paul Blackledge
• “Let's Murder the Moonlight!” Futurism, Anti-Humanism and Leisure - Brett Lashua
• The Frankfurt School, Leisure and Consumption - Gabby Skeldon
• Leisure, Instrumentality and Communicative Action - Karl Spracklen
• Leisure and Hegemony - Robert Cassar
• Reclaiming the “F-word”: Structural Feminist Theories of Leisure - Bronwen L. Valtchanov and Diana C. Parry
• A Critical Expansion of Theories on Race and Ethnicity in Leisure Studies - Rasul A. Mowatt
• Spasticus Auticus: Thinking About Disability, Culture and Leisure Beyond the “Walkie Talkies” - Viji Kuppan
• Leisure, Media, and Consumption: The Flavour of Rock in Rio - Ricardo Ferreira Freitas and Flávio Lins
• Leisure and “The Civilising Process” - Stephen Wagg
• The Politics of Leisure in Totalitarian Societies - Vassil Girginov
• Leisure, Community, and the Stranger - Elie Cohen-Gewerc
• Part IV Post-structural Theories of Leisure - Brett Lashua
• Introduction
• Postmodernity and Leisure - Mira Malick
• Leisure, Risk and Reflexivity - Ken Roberts
• Thinking Through Post-structuralism in Leisure Studies: A Detour Around “Proper” Humanist Knowledges - Lisbeth A. Berbary
• Who Should Inhabit Leisure? Disability, Embodiment, and Access to Leisure - Mary Ann Devine and Ken Mobily
• Leisure and Diaspora - Daniel Burdsey
• You Make Me Feel Mighty Real: Hyperreality and Leisure Theory - Steve Redhead
• Leisure in the Current Interregnum: Exploring the Social Theories of Anthony Giddens and Zygmunt Bauman - Spencer Swain
• The Politics of Leisure Mobilities: Borders and Rebordering Processes in Europe - Kevin Hannam and Basagaitz Guereño-Omil
• “Obligations and Entitlements”: Neoliberalism, Governmentality, and Community Parks - Trent Newmeyer
• Disneyization and the Provision of Leisure Experiences - Simon Beames and Mike Brown
• Leisure, Social Space, and Belonging - Troy Glover
• Subversive Imagination: Smoothing Space for Leisure, Identity, and Politics - Brian E. Kumm and Corey W. Johnson
• Against Limits: A Post-structural Theorizing of Resistance in Leisure - Erin Sharpe