Places around us: embodied lay geographies in leisure and tourism

Abstract

Places are one pervasive component of leisure and tourism. Leisure and tourism include encounters with place. Encounters with other people and material things, imagination and memory occur in places. In social science increasing attention is being given to the human individual as productive in everyday practices, as producer rather than consumer. This position is informed through a discussion of the phenomena of embodiment, the human subject and practise. In this paper these elements are outlined and attention directed to ways in which these inform thinking about place in leisure and tourism. These elements are considered in relation to the sensuous, social and poetic dimensions of embodiment. Embodiment denotes the ways in which the individual grasps the world around her/him and makes sense of it in ways that engage both mind and body. It is argued that these dimensions offer a route into a more human-oriented comprehension of leisure and tourism than has been prevalent in much recent work in leisure and tourism studies, and thus provides ground for a more inclusive approach to policy in the new millennium. It is important to note that this emphasis on the human individual in no sense draws away from recognition of other contextual concerns which are on the contrary given more affective consideration.