Leisure Practices Research Articles

Leisure experiences of the LGBTQIAP+ community in Brazil

ABSTRACT The text makes visible the leisure practices carried out by the LGBTQIAP+ community on Rua Augusta and in the Baixo Augusta neighborhood of the City of Sao Paulo, Brazil.

The reflection of generation Z of leisure practices in Chinese audiovisual media: An analysis based on the YouTube platform

This study explores the reflection of Generation Z leisure culture in Chinese audiovisual media, with a focus on the YouTube platform. As China’s Generation Z becomes a key demographic in shaping digital and media consumption patterns, their leisure practices reflect a unique fusion of local and global influences. Through an analysis of content on YouTube, this research examines how audiovisual media portrays the leisure activities of Chinese Generation Z, including entertainment, social interaction, and self-expression. By investigating the cultural narratives and visual strategies used to engage this generation, the study reveals how YouTube serves as a platform for identity formation, a strong sense of national identity, and pride in Chinese traditional culture among Chinese Gen Z audiences. The findings contribute to understanding the broader impact of digital platforms on leisure habits and media discourse in contemporary China, highlighting the transformative role of audiovisual media in shaping youth culture. It also plays a significant cultural education function, enhancing the positive perception of Chinese culture on the international stage and elevating China's image.

THE PLACE IN LEISURE: A PERSPECTIVE OF REALITIES AND EXPERIENCES

The article explores the relationship between the concepts of place and leisure, investigating how they influence individuals’ bodily practices and affective experiences. The research, part of a project by the Federal University of Pará, uses an action research methodology with students from Youth and Adult Education (EJA). Through practical activities, such as the construction of mental maps and games, the study analyzes how leisure practices connect to memories and affections, highlighting the importance of these concepts for understanding social and cultural interactions. The article concludes that Physical Education plays a crucial role in human development, valuing bodily practices and socialization.

(Re)creation through recreation: strengthening Hul’qumi’num’ identities through ‘leisure’

ABSTRACT A strong understanding of one’s cultural identity can serve as a protective factor against adversity. Correspondingly, empirical evidence has identified that participation in leisure may be a catalyst or contributing factor to forming one’s identity. However, scholarly understandings of the term leisure have been dominated by Eurocentric ideals. In this paper, I used Hul’qumi’num’ snuw’uy’ulh (sacred teachings) as my theoretical framework to explore how Hul’qumi’num’ mustimuxw (Hul’qumi’num’ people), specifically participating members of Snuneymuxw First Nation, understand and engage in leisure practices. Resultantly, I present my reflexive and tension filled process to assert that while study participants differentiated between engagement in both Indigenous and non-Indigenous leisure pursuits, the overarching premise was that one’s cultural identity and leisure participation were not independent of one another, regardless of the nature of the activity. Moreover, I suggest that in contemporary contexts, leisure participation from the perspective of the participants did not distinguish between Indigenous and non-Indigenous leisure to create either/or binaries but rather presented a notion of both. Thus, I demonstrate the reciprocal utility of Indigenous and non-Indigenous leisure pursuits in developing and maintaining cultural identity for Hul’qumi’num’ mustimuxw when rooted in snuw’uy’ulh.

Happy childhood: the search for an informative system of characteristics through the prism of eventfulness

The results of a study devoted to identifying the potential of using information about childhood events to explain the subsequent perception of childhood as a happy one are presented. Based on the assumption that the specificity of the eventfulness of the very first stage of life can determine the existence of groups with happy and unhappy childhood according to subjective estimates, a selection of childhood events has been made that most allow differentiating those who evaluate their childhood as happy and unhappy. As an empirical basis, the results of a survey of representatives of a youth group who have crossed the age of majority or are on its border are used. Among the 100 initial childhood events for analysis, groups of life episodes were identified, the presence and age of occurrence of which are associated with a retrospective assessment of childhood as happy. These are events related to the manifestation of subjectivity and its recognition by adults; consumer and financial socialization ; establishing relationships with peers and parents; independent movements and mobility; a variety of leisure practices and prosocial behavior; some manifestations of infantilism; the absence or later onset of certain traumatic events, deviant behavior practices, actions to change appearance. The listed groups of life episodes form the basis of an informative system of characteristics of a subjectively prosperous childhood and can be used in the future to implement models of multidimensional analysis.

One Family, Two Leisure Worlds: Analysis of Gender Order and Its Relationship to the “Leisure Gap” Between Mothers and Fathers

This study aimed to explore contextual factors influencing couples’ leisure practices and experiences through in-depth interviews with 15 Taiwanese heteronormative married couples. Findings suggested that despite Taiwanese women’s performance in the public sphere, husbands benefit from using work-family narratives and attendant gender order and practices as unconscious “social defenses” to rationalize leisure inequality generated by gender norms. When married women are under pressure to accept gender norms attached to wives or mothers, they reconfigure their understanding of gender roles to implicitly acknowledge male dominance in a “system justification” manner. In addition, they further redefine motherhood in the way they feel best fits their position in the family and curb their desire for personal leisure. Unequal gender relationships determine couples’ perceptions and patterns of leisure, which contributes, at least in part, to the persistence of leisure inequalities in the family environment.

Federated or Non-Federated Sports: The Influence on Children, the Youth Population and Family Life

Family time must be combined with the personal time of each of its members, with special importance regarding children due to the need for attention and monitoring by parents of their performance. Within the leisure of minors in the home, physical activity and sports are the most in-demand typologies, thus some of them participate in federated clubs, attending a more institutionalized or professional sport, while others develop in an environment based on entertainment. In this way, depending on the demand for these activities, it leads to a series of different consequences in the family environment. The main objective of this study is to establish whether or not children’s attendance at federated sports affects family dynamics. A total of 224 Spanish families with children from 6 to 18 years of age who practice sport activities participated and completed a questionnaire with 36 items about the family’s involvement in children’s sports. The results show that parents with children participating in federated sports have a more positive perception of their children’s sports practices; they provide greater support to their children regarding their performance and see this activity as an excellent opportunity for education in values. However, they do identify it as an obstacle to the development of family leisure practices, resulting in an element that conditions family reconciliation. In this way, there is a need to establish alliances between families and sports professionals, providing family participation bodies in sports clubs and providing a better conciliation time to accommodate family time.

Navigating Public Urban (Green) Space – An Analysis of Ethnic “Other” Women’s Walking Activities in Denmark

Globally, walking is the most popular leisure time physical activity (LTPA) among adults. Yet, navigating public spaces might pose distinct challenges for ethnic “Other” women, whose bodies and veiling practices have come under scrutiny in Western societies. Based on an ethnographic study of a walking group with ethnic “Other” women living in a deprived area of a Danish city, this article explores how the women negotiated being physically active in urban (green) space. Drawing on Lefebvre’s spatial theory, we paid particular attention to the boundaries and norms that characterized the social space of the walking group. Contrary to other activities, walking in a group with other women appeared as an accessible form of LTPA during which participants could practice self-care and preserve “embodied respectability.” Our analysis emphasizes women’s agency in appropriating urban green spaces, whilst also revealing how age, (dis)ability and, particularly, gender and cultural norms regulate their leisure practices.

Carnival for one day: how holiday leisure contributes to an intersectional ‘we’

ABSTRACT Foreign domestic helpers’ leisure experiences on holidays are attracting growing attention in academia. However, little research has examined how leisure practices contribute to the evolution of social identities from an intersectional perspective. Adopting an ethnographic method, this study explores this topic through participant observation, semi-structured interviews, and secondary data analysis. Findings centre around a trio of relational themes – seeking a sense of belonging, self-categorizing, and self-representing – that reveal how holiday leisure practices inform foreign domestic helpers’ identification of themselves and others in Hong Kong. A comprehensive understanding of marginalised groups’ travel choices and experiences is provided along with a glimpse into potential extensions of social identity and self-representation. Practical implications for the government and destination managers are also offered.

What does leisure have to do with mental health – arts, creative and leisure practices and living with mental distress

ABSTRACT There is a growing interest in the role of leisure, arts and creative activities in cultivating health and wellbeing across different contexts. Leisure sports have historically been considered beneficial for achieving health, and similar focus has recently been placed on arts and creativity. Recent research into the role of arts and creative engagement for wellbeing highlights the benefits of these modes of engagement on emotional wellbeing and social connectedness. In this article, we examine the ways arts, creative and leisure practices and mental health converge, co-exist and collide. We draw on feminist leisure studies scholarship and Sarah Ahmed’s work on emotion to discuss insights from our research into the everyday experiences of people living with a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder (BPD). We utilise qualitative methods to investigate people’s experiences of meaningful leisure practices and the dynamics between leisure practices and living well with the distress. We explore how leisure activities initiate complex processes of discovery and production of meanings, identity and wellbeing. Our discussion emphasises that leisure practices contribute to producing everyday forms of self-care and provide transformative space for self-discovery yet are simultaneously inseparable from the politics of living with mental distress while navigating accumulated effects of distress.

‘It’s lovely to have that sense of belonging’: older men’s involvement in walking football

ABSTRACT Men’s participation in group leisure is often promoted as a vehicle for social connection in later-life. However, current research rarely extends beyond underbaked statements about this, thereby neglecting how this is accomplished in the everyday leisure practices of older men. Informed by sociological scholarship which attends to the intersections of leisure, community, and belonging, I draw on 43 interviews with older men playing walking football to sketch out how men forge bonds and belonging on and off the pitch. Participation in a group activity allows older men to reassemble their selves alongside other men in ways that help avoid loneliness/isolation. Moreover, they cherish the ‘camaraderie’, ‘banter’, and friendships shared with other men. The cultivation of meaningful relationships also includes enacting modes of care and interdependence, in which dwelling alongside men provides security and reassurance under the shadow of their own embodied vulnerability. By taking claims of social connection seriously, I interpret men’s involvement in walking football not as an individual pursuit occurring alongside others, but as a collective act and social experience. I conclude by reflecting on the value of this approach for understanding men’s leisure practices, and possible future areas of social inquiry in leisure studies.

The leisure views of Jiangnan’s literati in the late Ming: A comparative analysis of China and the West

Jiangnan in the late Ming Dynasty developed economy and thriving culture. Meanwhile combat among political parties was fierce and politics was darkness in imperial court, so literati intentionally chose to retreat into the mountains and forests to escape fame and live in seclusion, and this formed a pervasive trend of leisure living. With this background, based on their understanding and observation of leisure practice and phenomena, Jiangnan’s literati put forward many views on leisure, such as the unity of humans and nature, the usefulness of leisure, the divergence of the cultured and common, self-cultivation based on stillness, and fusion of the three religions. This closely matched the views of ancient and modern Western philosophers on leisure. Therefore, the late Ming was undoubtedly a self-aware age of leisure in ancient China and also an age in Chinese history with highly developed thought on leisure. The active elements and passive influence of the leisure views of Jiangnan’s literati undoubtedly have important theoretical constructivist and reference value for the practice of leisure in China today.

Supporting Reading as a Useful Leisure Practice for Children of the Digital Era

The aim of the article is to study the state of reading as a leisure practice in the context of the rapid development of technologies, and to determine prospects for stimulating interest in extracurricular reading, which will also correspond to the provisions of the state policy for the reading development in Ukraine. Research methods. Scientific methods of analysis, synthesis and comparison are used in this research in order to achieve the specified aim, which made it possible to assess the state of leisure reading among school-age children, and to present modern practices in terms of its promotion. Methods of systematic and comparative analysis are also used to generalise the research results. Analytical grouping (categorisation) is used to classify data from the sociological study on children’s leisure time by gender. Correlational and factor analyses of statistical data of the all- Ukrainian sociological research conducted by LLC “Info Sapiens International” as a part of the project “Supporting the promotion of reading in Ukraine” with the support of the International Foundation “Renaissance” and the Ukrainian Book Institute are made. Scientific novelty. It consists in identifying the leisure practices of school-age children by gender through the processing and analysis of sociological information and its differences interpretation. Its consideration in directions of popularising book reading will contribute to the formation of the reading habit. Main conclusions. In the context of the rapid development of technology, extracurricular reading is inferior to other forms of leisure, such as video games, social networks, video content consumption. A modern approach to extracurricular reading requires an analysis of the best practices of the current leisure industry. A basis of this approach is a strategic development of complex solutions that take into account both traditional and digital formats of reading, which are adapted to rapid technological changes. Special attention is paid to gender aspects and the integration of elements known to children through video games in order to increase general interest in reading. The introduction of gamification and interactivity elements have to ensure a harmonious combination of reading as a traditional form of leisure with the advantages of modern digital technologies. Such a synthesis of traditional and innovative methods is designed to provide balanced leisure time for children, to support the culture of reading in conditions of rapid digital technologies development, and to correspond to the provisions of the state policy for the reading development in Ukraine.

The Concept of “The Third Place” in the Context of Modernising the Library Space

The aim of the article is to study the concept of “the third place” in extrapolation to the library space, and to identify peculiarities of its implementation in public libraries of Ukraine. Research methods. An analytical-synthetic, typological, systemic-structural and dialectical methods are applied, due to which the features of modernising the space of Ukrainian public libraries in the context of “the third place” paradigm are determined, modern forms and peculiarities of cultural and leisure activities corresponding to “the third place” concept are revealed, as well as a prognostic and analytical method is used, the purpose of which is to outline prospective directions of modernisation tendencies in the space of public libraries of Ukraine, taking into account the current socio-cultural situation. Scientific novelty. The process of updating the library space is studied in the context of the leading tendencies of the first decades of the 21st century. The concept of “the third place” in extrapolation to the library space is researched. The information and communication requests of modern society are analysed as a factor of transforming the traditional library space. The peculiarities of implementing the concept of “the third place” in public libraries of Ukraine are identified, as well as the trends of cultural and leisure activities of domestic libraries at the beginning of the third decade of the 21st century are clarified on the example of Odesa Regional Universal Scientific Library named after M. S. Hrushevskyi, and the Central District Library named after I. Franko (Kyiv). The prospects for the further development of leisure practices are outlined according to the positioning of the modern library, including as a place for users’ spare time. Main conclusions. One of the concepts that is actively used in the process of improving and modernising the activities of cultural institutions in general and libraries in particular is the concept of “the third place”, according to which much attention is paid to the visitors’ requests and needs. In this way, the library is positioned not only as an institution where the visitor gets the information he needs, but also as a unique meeting place where social statuses are equalised. The concept of innovative library space in the context of “the third place” paradigm includes both technical and technological, and software tools of library activity, which are primarily aimed at meeting the socio-communicative, cultural-leisure and informational needs of its visitors. Innovative libraries of the new type presented in Ukraine at the beginning of the 2020s, operating according to the concept of “the third place”, can be roughly divided into several formats: co-working library, library-cafe, library-club, library-museum, bibliohub, etc. Their main characteristics are locality, accessibility and openness for all segments of the population, comfortable atmosphere that promotes relaxed interaction, providing opportunities for cultural and leisure activities, and a variety of entertainment. In conditions of decrease in the demand for traditional library services caused by automation and digitisation of library services, Ukrainian libraries actively introduce various cultural and leisure practices into their activity, thereby expand their own functions.

‘It’s pretty sad if I’m just betting by myself … ’: navigating shame and stigma in everyday sports betting

ABSTRACT Smartphone technologies and prominent marketing campaigns continue to contribute to the growth of sports betting in contemporary Australia, shifting the practice from pubs and clubs into the domestic and intimate lives of young bettors. This article seeks to build on prior studies of sports betting in the lives of young Australian men by focusing on how gambling shame and stigma is navigated by bettors and their romantic partners. Data collected from 20 interviews with young sports bettors and their intimate partners is used to highlight and contrast how men and women perceive and engage with modern sports betting. Drawing on the work of Elspeth Probyn, we show how shame directed by betting men towards problem gambling behaviours and perceived illegitimate forms of gambling, such as betting alone or betting on racing, helps legitimise men’s own betting practices and position them favourably in masculine betting hierarchies. In contrast to men’s shaming responses, women who have been romantically involved with sports bettors instead show feelings of understanding and indifference towards the practice, provided their partners bet at a recreational level. These findings illustrate the ways young Australian gamblers use ‘betting shame’ to navigate and justify their engagement with a rapidly transforming, stigmatised leisure practice.

Urban Population of Nizhny Novgorod in First Half of 1920s: Leisure Practices

This study examines the leisure activities of Nizhny Novgorod residents during the NEP era. Various forms of urban leisure and their connections to state ideology are characterized. A total of 31 sources were analyzed, including legislative sources, statistics, and periodicals. Sources included articles from criminal and administrative codes, statistical data, and Nizhny Novgorod press. An overview of Nizhny Novgorod periodicals from 1921-1924 is provided. Results of a comparative analysis of legislative materials, statistical data, and periodicals are presented. Emphasis is placed on the ways and methods of shaping urban culture in line with state ideology. The issue of deviant behavior among city dwellers and its causes is raised. It is highlighted that new holidays aimed to replace religious celebrations. The study shows that the values of the urban community were influenced by ideological beliefs and spread through new leisure forms. It is proven that the structure of urban festivities contributed to the establishment of new societal values. The authors conclude on the significance of organized leisure in creating a socio-cultural urban environment. The role of periodicals in popularizing urban leisure forms is demonstrated. The relevance of the study lies in exploring the connection between ideology and the organization of urban leisure.

The Role of Leisure Practices and Local Identity in Migrants’ Inclusion in Two Rural Norwegian Municipalities

This article discusses the role of local identity and local leisure practices in migrants’ inclusion processes in two rural Norwegian localities. The discussed study was conducted in municipalities that had experienced increased international migration following the EU expansion in 2004 and had a long history of internal in‐migration. In the study, individuals’ social inclusion and belonging processes are treated as inseparable from a locality’s dominant local narratives, practices, and norms—drawing on theories on inclusion/exclusion processes in places. Based on findings from semi‐structured interviews with local natives, internal migrants, and international migrants, the study found that different leisure practices were central to local identity in the two localities, which had implications for what was expected of migrants in order for them to be accepted locally. These findings align with what is commonly conceived as outdated community study research findings. The findings indicate the continued relevance of the local for people’s identification and migrants’ inclusion processes and support a need for closer theoretical and methodological integration of internal and international migration research. Another central finding was that in one of the localities, national narratives about civic engagement were evoked by some majority Norwegians as additional arguments for the importance of migrants’ involvement in local leisure activities. These interviewees’ main concern appeared to be ensuring local—rather than national—cultural continuity and cohesion. Finally, the different inclusion grammars in the two localities illustrate that inclusion processes in one locality should not by default be seen as representative of what is transpiring in a nation‐state.

‘The boots will be on the coffin!’: multiple meanings of ageing for older people playing walking football

Abstract A narrative of decline dominates the ageing process in the Global North. At the same time, older people have shared more positive stories of ageing, particularly with respect to their leisure practices. I explore this tension by drawing on an interview-based study with people playing walking football in the United Kingdom. My contention is that older people express multiple meanings of ageing that disturb deficit-focused cultural scripts of later-life, albeit in ways that can be fraught with tensions and contradictions. First, I explore how older people cultivate an alternate identity departing from assumptions of loneliness and degradation, with walking football providing an opportunity to develop friendships and a sense of belonging. Second, older people emphasise their own (good) health and the embodied demands of walking football, yet in doing so, can reinforce ageist discourses by distinguishing themselves from the inactive and isolated (older) other. Third, older people reflect on their current and future involvement in walking football in positive ways. However, through attending to the temporal character of their experiences, I show how, whilst older people express a desire to continue participation, this is threatened by the realities of their ageing bodies in ways that align with deficit framings of later-life. I conclude by calling for recognising the multiplicity of older people's experiences and exercising caution about reproducing over-simplistic and sweeping celebrations of ageing.

FREE TIME AND RECREATION OF CITIZENS IN THE VISUAL IMAGES OF THE SOVIET PRESS OF THE 1920S

The purpose of the study. This article analyzes the visual content of the Soviet press of the 1920s, in order to reconstruct the normative and deviant models of recreation reflected in it by the urban population of the country. Conclusions. In visual media stories, the problems of free time and recreation exist in several planes: imperative (approved, ideologically correct strategies and practices of organizing free time are broadcast); normative (examples are given indicating the «sprouts» of a new way of life); critical (deviant practices and «remnants» of the past that need to be eliminated are ridiculed and castigated). In quantitative terms, in the press of the 1920s, the plots of the first and second groups, devoted to cultural recreation of citizens in parks, libraries, theaters, etc., prevailed. The practices of deviant recreation (drunkenness, gambling, etc.), explained by pre-Soviet remnants, the difficulties of the recovery period, and the lack of education of citizens, were more often represented by anonymous plots indicating vice, but not discrediting specific citizens. The press was intended to form cultural leisure practices among citizens rather than reflect the realities of the pastime of citizens in the 1920s.

Becoming Active Agents Through Practices of Volunteering: Immigrants’ Experiences in Rural Germany

Volunteering is an important way to include immigrants at a local scale, especially in small towns and municipalities with limited arrival infrastructure. With the recent increase in immigrants, including in rural areas, volunteering practices for this target group have been much discussed, albeit with an emphasis on immigrants as vulnerable beneficiaries. There are few studies that focus on immigrants’ volunteering practices, or their function for the individual and receiving community, while empirical evidence for rural areas is explicitly lacking. In this article, we address immigrants as active agents with recourse to the concept of agency and unravel, firstly, the meanings they attribute to volunteering and reasons for their mobilisation; secondly, their access to volunteering in the German countryside; and thirdly their reflecting, practising, and sharing of agency through volunteering with an impact on themselves and their rural communities. Drawing on a qualitative, biographical‐narrative study of 72 immigrants in rural Germany, we show how cultures of volunteering—or how it is practised in different contexts—inform immigrants’ current activities, ranging from leisure practices to neighbourly help and supporting the inclusion of new arrivals. We illustrate the importance of opportunity structures and social networks for accessing volunteering and reveal individual and altruistic reasons for doing it, such as facilitating language acquisition and enhancing one’s participation, showing solidarity with immigrants, or gratitude towards the receiving society, often coinciding with expected outcomes. Volunteering allows immigrants to “perform agency” and fosters both belonging and responsibility taking for the dwelling place.