This thought-provoking and innovative book argues for the importance of leisure studies as a lens through which to understand and interrogate our hypermodern society.
In the book, leading leisure scholars describe the hypermodern moment, in which globalisation and technology have led to an acceleration of contemporary life, defined by constant experience, consumption and pleasure-seeking, and driven by capitalist, neoliberal logics. They argue that leisure remains a reliable mirror of the evolution of our social world, and that certain forms of leisure challenge and disrupt the prevailing socio-economic structures. Presenting case studies of leisure worlds including ultramarathon, lifestyle sports and improv theatre, the book draws on concepts including free time, value, flow and community that help us to better understand the position of leisure in a hypermodern world, and describes alternative social and commercial frameworks - including transmodernity and hypomodernity that add a new dimension to contemporary leisure studies.
Exploring the cutting edge of social theory, this book is fascinating reading for anybody with an interest in the sociology or philosophy of leisure, cultural studies, or the sociology of sport.
Introduction
1. Modernity, Postmodernity and Hypermodernity: From the
Genealogy of Concepts to the Reality of Facts
2. Leisure in Hypermodernity
3.
Boundaries of Self in Ephemeral Leisure
4. Leisure, Community and
Hypermodernity
5. Leisure Hypermodernity and the Meaning of Life
6.
Skateboarding, Snowboarding, Surfing and Other Alternative Sports:
Hypermodernity as Breeding Ground for Trendy Sports?
7. Resisting
Hypermodernity Through Leisure Endeavours: Finding Flow Through Flowart
8.
Understanding Ultramarathon Runners Motivations and Leisure Meanings:
Running to Slow Down
9. Resisting and Embracing Hypermodernity Through the
Practice of Improv Theatre in Quebec, Canada
10. Epilogue
Jean-Marc Adjizian is a Professor in the Department of Études en Loisir, Culture et Tourisme at the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, Canada. He is mainly interested in the relationship between leisure and local and community development. More specifically, he is interested in social and territorial development, as well as integration and inclusion through leisure.
Romain Roult is a Professor in the Department of Études en Loisir, Culture et Tourisme at the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, Canada. His research expertise is focused on the place of sport in the territorial, tourism and social dynamics of Western cities, and on the forms that sport can play in these dynamics.
Jocelyn Garneau has a PhD in Leisure, Culture and Tourism from the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, Canada. His research interests include the philosophy of leisure, the meaning of leisure in hypermodern times, leisure and the meaning to life, positive sociology of leisure and sociation, and leisure communities and social worlds. He is currently a Research Professional at the Observatoire Québécois du Loisir, Canada.
