‘Leisure’ in the writings of Walter Benjamin

Abstract

The work of Walter Benjamin has achieved belated recognition in the social sciences as one of the most prescient accounts of modernity. However, it is not generally recognized that Benjamin also provides the first theory of leisure as an inevitably politicized type of activity. By tying the expansion of leisure to the rise of consumer culture and the development of modernity, Benjamin showed why leisure is fated to become beset with conflict. At the root of this is the idea that the increasing reflexivity produced by the growth of leisure time and space exposes the political fetters on leisure experience in capitalist society. In this paper the essential features of Benjamin's analysis as they pertain to understanding and studying leisure are considered. These are taken to be his concepts of modernity, phantasmagoria, aura and flanerie. The meaning of each concept is addressed and related to the wider theme of leisure experience. An attempt to show the value of Benjamin's approach compared with current influential positions in the field of leisure theory is made.