Leisure Practices Research Articles

Conceptualization of the "Leisure Practices" in Modern Sociology

In this paper, the authors consider in detail the current state of the conceptual dictionary of sociology. The phenomenon of leisure practices is chosen as the object of research. And the subject of the study is the conceptualization of the concept of "leisure practices" in modern sociology. The authors consider in detail the formation of leisure in social and humanitarian scientific knowledge, starting with ancient philosophical ideas. The evolution of leisure practices from ancient forms to modern varieties is traced. Classical and modern works of foreign and domestic authors relevant to the subject are chosen as theoretical bases. It is noted that today leisure practices are considered mainly through the prism of three methodological approaches: symbolic interactionism, structural functionalism and neo-Marxism. The authors argumentatively show that during their development leisure practices occupy an important place in the structure of human activity, since they are one of the most effective ways of personal development, forming its spiritual and physical qualities. Leisure needs are firmly embedded in the value system of all social groups, while the progressive development of world civilization suggests new options and versions of organizing and spending free time. As a special contribution of the topics raised by the authors of this study for the modern sociological discourse, the necessity of continuous research of leisure practices is laid due to their dynamic nature and because of their determinism by contextual realities. The author presents his own concept of leisure practices, taking into account their essential characteristics and allowing to go beyond the one-sided understanding of leisure, for example, such widespread as identical to free time.

THE ATTITUDE OF YOUNG PEOPLE TO DESTRUCTIVE PRACTICES IN THE DIGITAL SPACE

Based on the data of a sociological study of students of the Ogarev Modovian State University, the attitude to destructive practices in the digital space is revealed. Based on the calculated indices of approval of violence and the level of loneliness, their influence on attitudes to destructive practices in the digital space, as well as risk groups, is determined. The level of awareness of students about destructive communities that exist both real and virtual, about legal responsibility for certain offenses, the level of involvement in youth associations, leisure practices are measured. It is concluded that the process of involvement in destructive communities, practices in social networks among young people is often associated with problems of communication with their peers, with problems in the family. The reasons for the participation of young people in destructive communities, students note mental disorders, problems in relationships with adults, conflicts in the family, inner loneliness, the desire to unite with someone. Interest in certain destructive communities can develop as under the influence of a virtual mechanism, i.e. social networks themselves that distribute destructive content, as well as under the influence of specific social, macro- and microfactors, life reasons that can speed up the inclusion process.

Fatalism and leisure in Nepal

ABSTRACT Scholars have identified the need to study cases of leisure from wider social and political contexts so that existing Western perspectives on leisure theories can be challenged. This study responds to that need by exploring the sociological factors that inform the conception and practice of leisure in Nepal. This exploratory study applies the qualitative method and data is collected through in-depth interviews of the purposely selected samples of 25 individuals at three leisure sites in Nepal. The study finds that the Nepali concept of leisure is strongly informed by the belief in fatalism, where there is limited individual agency or free will, and that social time rather than free time is central to this concept. The findings suggest the existence of a new ontology of leisure and identifies the need for more critical debates on the cross-cultural comparisons of leisure.

"I Don't Want to Have the Time When I Do Nothing": Aging and Reconfigured Leisure Practices During the Pandemic.

In this paper, we contend that urban middle-class older Indians engaged in "serious leisure" as a way to reimagine and reconfigure the structure of everyday life during the pandemic-led epochal downtime. In particular, we heuristically show that leisure activity patterns and constraint negotiation strategies among older Indians followed conceptual semblances with the dominant leisure-based typology of Serious Leisure Perspective. By thematically analysing household surveys (n = 71), time-use diaries and in-depth interviews (n = 15) of middle to upper middle-class individuals (55-80 years), we show how both men and women distinguished between serious leisure that is marked by motivation, agency and perseverance with that of unstructured, routinized free-time (or causal leisure). Time-use diaries suggested that despite the changed realities of heightened domestic time available to both genders due to the pandemic, women recorded higher proportion of their daily hours in household management and caregiving. Although women were governed by moral-cultural self-descriptions in their engagement with leisure, it was often associated with an enhanced sense of self-actualisation, self-management and identity. Overall, we show how the social codes of age and gender were inextricably linked with the practice of leisure during the pandemic.

The role of TV series in the life of young people

This scientific article examines the influence of TV series on the youth audience. The main objective is to evaluate the subjective experience and effects of TV series on young people. The study utilizes both quantitative and qualitative methods, including secondary analysis of sociological survey data from a representative all-Russian sample (VTsIOM survey, N = 1,600 people, DataTile research, N = 1,085 people) and a series of six focus groups with informants aged 16 to 35. The research reveals viewer preferences and the frequency of TV series consumption among the youth audience. It was found that young people predominantly watch foreign TV series in the sitcom/comedy, detective, and drama genres, which significantly impacts their leisure practices, alters their attitudes towards sports (with an interest in chess and hockey), influences investment activities, aids in language learning, and enhances certain professional skills. The focus groups indicate that informants are aware of the romanticization of bad habits portrayed in TV series, but they do not perceive the depiction of cruelty as dangerous. However, they negatively evaluate long-term "immersion in the illusory world" of TV series as a potential psychological dependence. Based on the subjective attitudes towards TV series, the authors acknowledge both the positive and negative impacts on the lifestyle, views, and value orientations of young people.

Children in “Anti-Religious Offensive” at the Turn of the 1920s–1930s

The article studies the activities of “godless” youngsters in the initial period of USSR continuous collectivization through the prism of intergenerational relations in the Russian village. Both archival documents and materials of periodicals, methodological publications of the 1920s–1930s were used as the main sources. Priority attention was paid to the analysis of the relationship in the spiritual sphere of the peasant representatives of the “children of the revolution” generation (those whose childhood fell on the first post-revolutionary fifteen years) and the “revolutionary turning point” generation (born at the turn of the 19th–20th centuries). Pioneers and other young activists were involved in the “all-Union anti-religious offensive” officially announced at the end of 1929, during which adherents of some religion were declared class enemies. The authorities relied on the younger generation in the atheism in the village believing that children have fewer prejudices and it is easier to involve them in a confrontation with believing “fathers”. Much attention in the article was paid to highlighting the role of children in changing the rural festive culture, the peculiarities of the spread of atheistic views among children through the media, school, and leisure practices. The position, according to which home education was declared extremely harmful, was officially approved. The school was perceived not only as a tool for raising children, but also as a lever for re-education of parents through their children. In the activities of pioneers, there were clear elements if not of teaching, then of a challenge to the elders. The authorities were forced to maneuver under the influence of mass protests: the “attack on religion” changed, but continued. Under its influence, the confrontation between young atheists and peasant adherents of traditional religions escalated and had devastating consequences for the peasant continuity of generations.

'Other people are left to live like normal': White victimhood on lockdown

ABSTRACT: This article considers narratives of white victimhood and entitlement that emerged on social media during South Africa's first 'hard' lockdown in April 2020, in the initial stages of the coronavirus pandemic. While some commenters and citizens were initially supportive of the lockdown, the tone among sectors of white society soon changed to one of anger and paranoia as media texts began to circulate suggesting that lockdown regulations and policing disproportionately targeted white people. White enterprise, sociality and leisure were seen to be unfairly constrained, in an iteration of familiar narratives of 'reverse racism'. The article examines instances of claimed white victimhood expressed in online videos and petitions, centred on the temporary banning of beach sports, surfing and dog-walking, leisure practices that manifest what Mark Hunter calls 'white tone'. It shows how white exceptionalism persisted within one of the most dramatic global health crises of the past century.

"Семью рабочего - в клуб": организация свободного времени семейных рабочих в контексте советской досуговой политики 1920-х - первой половины 1930-х гг

The family policy of the Bolsheviks finds itself in the focus of attention of researchers studying the project of creating a “new” Soviet man, the sphere of private life, gender relations and other subjects of the history of early Soviet society. The purpose of the article is to analyze the cultural and educational and propaganda mass work on the organization of leisure of family workers in the 1920s - the first half of the 1930s. The source basis of the research was made up of published and archival materials, which show the main directions of this work, problems, and achievements. To solve the tasks stated in the study, an appeal was made to a wide range of concrete historical methods. Among them historical-comparative, historical-typological, synchronistic, historical periodization and problem-chronological methods were involved. The provisions and methods of historical anthropology and cross-cultural studies were actively used in the study. The use of the methodology of the new social history made it possible to conduct a multifaceted analysis of the phenomenon of leisure (its connection with everyday life, leisure practices, gender and age characteristics, etc.), to explore leisure as a social institution and related power relations in the context of everyday practices of various historical actors. As a result, the authors concluded that the nature and content of leisure practices of family workers were determined by the prevailing “semi-open” family structure. The release of family leisure outside the home circle contributed to its politicization, the establishment of control over the private lives of people by the authorities. The range of leisure forms for family workers, as well as their popularity, directly depended on the enthusiasm and professionalism of the organizers, as well as the financial capabilities of the trade unions, which guaranteed the availability of props, furniture, inventory and suitable premises. The situation was complicated by the lack of a consistent and comprehensive family policy, which has not yet received a clear and uncontested direction. Family workers were offered a certain strategy aimed at spending their free time more intelligently and culturally, but it was difficult to implement in conditions of preserving financial and personnel problems, as well as the strength of traditional attitudes and values.

Yoga Practice and Choices of Foods, Physical Activity, and Leisure: A Convenience Sampling Survey from India.

Previous surveys from countries other than India reported positive health behaviors in yoga practitioners. The present study aimed to determine with respect to yoga practitioners in India: (i) percentages of yoga practitioners who consumed specific foods, had additional physical activity and leisure activity, (ii) the association between these choices and their yoga practice, and (iii) the association of yoga with adding or avoiding specific foods and with meal timings in a day. This convenience hybrid-mode sampling survey was conducted on 551 yoga-experienced persons. (1) Yoga practitioner respondents ate fruits and vegetables regularly (62.1%), did not consume animal source products (69.2%), alcohol (98.0%), or tobacco (98.4%), had a regular physical activity other than yoga (77.5%) and leisure activities (92.2%). (2) More than 150 min/week of yoga practice and experience of yoga exceeding 60 months was (a) significantly associated with (i) regular consumption of fruits and vegetables, (ii) lower consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages, animal source foods, tobacco, and alcohol (P < 0.05, Chi-square test) and (b) not associated with physical activity or leisure activities (P > 0.05, Chi-square test). (3) Yoga practitioners excluded sugar-sweetened beverages, animal-source foods and fast foods from their diet, whereas they added fruits, vegetables, and plant-based juices to their diet, with earlier first and last meals for the day. In India, yoga practitioner respondents' choices for foods, physical activity, and leisure conform to accepted positive health behaviors. The exclusion of animal-source foods emphasizes the need for well-planned and fortified diets among vegan yoga practitioners.

From Football to Parachuting: Physical Education and Sports at the “Krasny Putilovets” Plant in the 1920s — Early 1930s

This study is devoted to the under researched issue of development of physical education and sports at the grassroots level. The task was to identify the mechanism of recruiting participants to sports teams and societies; to consider the process of introduction to sports at the micro-level of the enterprise; to study the role of physical culture in labor processes. The cornerstone of the Soviet mass society were collectives formed at factories, and therefore one of the largest factories in Petrograd/Leningrad — “Krasnyi Putilovets”, which had not only rich labor and revolutionary history, but also sports history, was chosen as an example. The research source base included archival materials; reviews and results of the survey of the physical education club at the plant; reviews of the activity of the sports club; discussions of the development of physical culture and sports, etc. As far as research methods are concerned, the authors turned to everyday history and its components — the history of sports and the history of leisure, as well as to microhistory. The results of the study demonstrate that it was the factory sport circles that led to professional sports and that during the period under review, effective mechanisms were developed to attract workers of different genders and ages to active physical education and sports. At the same time, the actors involved in the organization and implementation of this work pursued different goals — the unity of the labor collective, the distraction of young people from deviant leisure practices, the proletarization of sports, its use for educational and propaganda work, etc.

Everyday Leisure of the Dmitrov’ Town Merchant I. A. Tolchenov

This article analyzes the leisure preferences of the Dmitrov merchant I. A. Tolchenov on the basis of his autobiographical text “Journal or note of the life and adventures” of I. A. Tolchenov. As a result of the study, it was revealed how different life practices changed or still prevail during the course of the Dmitrov merchant, based on his family, financial and social status, as well as changes and continuity of leisure practices at different age levels of I. A. Tolchenov. It was demonstrated that the representatives of the wealthy merchants of the second half of the 18th century had no less opportunities for leisure than the nobles.

СОВЕТСКАЯ РАБОТНИЦА КАК ОБЪЕКТ ДОСУГОВОЙ ПОЛИТИКИ В 1920-е гг.

The politicization of leisure was one of the components of agitation, propaganda, cultural and educational work, actively implemented by government in the early Soviet period. Among the objects of leisure policy, the work with which close attention was paid, it is possible to point out female workers. This led both to the imposition and artificial integration of a number of leisure practices into their lives, and to the real consideration of requests. The model of the new Soviet woman being created was in many ways similar to what could be observed in Western countries — athletic, strong, educated, energetic and far from prejudice. There were similar tendencies towards the masculinization of leisure, a clear evidence of which was the spread of physical culture and sports, including their paramilitary forms. The main difference was the active limitation of the women’s freedom degree, which did not allow them to realize their right to leisure. Paternalism in leisure policy led to the struggle with those types of it that were considered “bourgeois” or decadent, although they were an integral and very important component of female independence. It is also need to mention the modest financial capabilities of most women and the limitations of the leisure industry, when the charming aesthetics of wealth and pleasure were forced to remain only a picture from a foreign film.

예비체육교사의 여가교육 방향 모색

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to take an in-depth look at leisure recognition, practice, and leisure education of a preliminary physical education teacher.&#x0D; Method: The data obtained two preliminary physical education teachers who practice leisure-oriented life in their daily lives were selected using decisive case labels. In the first in-depth interview, we looked at the need for leisure education as a preliminary physical education teacher along with leisure practice in the second in-depth interview.&#x0D; Results: First, The level of awareness of leisure was low due to the absence of prior education. Second, The development of serious leisure was difficult because plans and practices did not follow. Third, It recognized the need for early leisure education so that education on leisure should be emphasized at curriculum of school so that it can lead the daily life centered here in everyday life.&#x0D; Conclusion: Overall the study, in line with the rapidly changing social environment, the systematization of leisure education along existing education should be prepared.

The Moral Status of Leisure in a World with Ongoing Moral Catastrophe

In this essay, we argue that counter to the dominant narrative, many commonly practiced forms of leisure are morally impermissible. Specifically, we describe how for many people, in many circumstances, the practice of leisure cannot be reconciled with the pursuit of an ethical life. We also describe how certain leisure practices, which we identify as morally significant, are permissible. In short, we contend that in a world with ongoing moral catastrophe, leisure must earn its claim on our lives and our resources. To do so, we draw primarily on the work of Peter Singer. We begin by introducing Singer’s rescue principle, and then extending it to the context of leisure. We conclude with a discussion of the potential implications of our argument for a variety of stakeholders, including scholars, practitioners, and members of the general public.

Consolidating Whiteness in Leisure Places: Answering the Call for a Fourth Wave of Race Research in Leisure Studies

The fourth wave of leisure studies challenges researchers to investigate the social construction of race through leisure, in contrast to understanding race as a variable. Floyd (2007) challenged us to think about the future challenges and trends around race and ethnicity in leisure studies. Though significant progress has been made since the 1970s, we still have far to go in assessment of race and ethnicity in leisure. The objective of this manuscript is to answer the call made by Floyd for an anticipated fourth wave task of “understand[ing] how leisure practices create, reinforce, and perpetuate racist practices in contemporary America” (2007, 249). We apply a theoretical framework that centers racism and whiteness, drawn from race scholarship across fields: the sociology of race, Critical Race Theory (CRT), whiteness studies, settler colonialism studies, and Black and Native Studies. We apply this framework to investigate the storytelling at two National Park Service (NPS) monuments which we provide as case studies to analyze how spatialized historical storytelling consolidates structural white supremacy in the parks, despite a rhetoric of inclusivity. Only once we understand how racism and white supremacy are embedded in NPS narratives can we begin to make changes to reduce white supremacist storytelling in leisure practice.

Wasted: towards a critical research agenda for disposability in leisure

ABSTRACT ‘Garbage Island’. ‘The Pacific Trash Vortex’. ‘The Great Pacific Garbage Patch’. Titles abound for the growing build-up of waste, mostly microplastic and non-biodegradable, floating in the North Pacific Ocean. Unfortunately, Garbage Island is just one egregious example of how human activities are exacting an enormous toll on the planet. Considerations of waste should be central to our field, not merely due to the degree to which leisure practices are deeply implicated in its production but because the very provision of leisure opportunities often rests on disposability. The time is ripe to develop a research agenda for understanding waste and disposability in leisure. This research note presents a brief accounting of waste as it has been taken up in our field in an effort to set a path forward for understanding and addressing this issue. Of course, explorations of consumption in leisure studies is well-trod ground and, arguably, critical considerations of how individuals consume through leisure (i.e. conspicuous consumption) form the backbone of our field. Rather surprisingly, however, relatively little, critical attention has been given to the very notion of waste, or the disposability that undergirds the material production and provision of leisure.

Following the 'hype': The role of leisure practices during 'homeland' visits in transnational youth's way of relating to Ghana.

Drawing on 17 months of ethnographic fieldwork in the Netherlands and Ghana, this paper combines 'return' mobilities literature and youth studies to analyse the role of leisure practices during 'homeland' visits in transnational youth's way of relating to Ghana when they are entering into adulthood. Using the notion of mobility trajectories, the paper shows that leisure practices facilitate young people's ability to establish and renew intimate transnational relationships with diasporic friends, and Ghana-based same-generation relatives and romantic partners. Differing from earlier stays in Ghana, young people expressed their emerging sense of independence by exploring alternative sides of the country with these peers, based on common interests and belonging to the same life-cycle cohort. The findings add complexity to the notion of the 'homeland' as a monolithic place of reconnecting with family and roots by drawing attention to the intersection between young people's pathways to adulthood and transnational mobility.

Social Typologies of Creative Practices

In this article, the authors structure and significantly expand the theory of the typology of creative practices. The authors offer two groups of grounds for constructing a typology of creativity. The first group is socialization. Under the socialization foundations of creativity, the authors understand a set of social factors that contribute to or hinder the process of socialization of an individual as a subject of creative practices. The authors talk about socialization factors that contribute to and hinder the realization of creative potential and, accordingly, introduce new concepts, such as socialization harmonious (laminar, favorable) and socialization conflict (turbulent, unfavorable) creativity. The authors also distinguish the second group of grounds for the typology of creativity, namely, the factors of the social and political environment external to the creative subject. So, two types of realization of creative potential are distinguished, the authors designate them as societally favorable and societally unfavorable. As a result, the authors propose a three-dimensional typology of social trajectories of subjects of creative potential — creative social trajectories. The authors also propose a classification of creative potential according to the parameters of profile — non-core. The profile creative potential of an individual or group social subject is understood as the potential realized in the field of the main profile of his professional activity. Accordingly, non-core potential is realized either in leisure practices or in professional practices that are not related to the main profile of the subject’s professional activity. Based on the criterion of the nature of innovation contained in a creative product, the authors introduce a typological division into conformal and non-conformal/radical creativity. The concept of individual and group creativity is also introduced, the concepts of individual and group creative potential are described as well.

Animation Educational Technologies in the Scientific and Methodological Support of the Classroom Teacher Training

The article actualizes the technological aspects of the professional training of classroom teachers for educational work with students in the context of the inclusion of extracurricular activities in the Federal State Educational Standard of basic general education, the introduction of an exemplary education program, which notes the educational potential of children’s leisure practices at school. At the heart of such training is the orientation towards mastering by students a complex of special knowledge, skills and abilities, as well as the acquisition of independent experience of leisure and educational activities in the educational process and professional pedagogical practice. The purpose of the article is to substantiate the need and reveal the possibilities of animation educational technologies as one of the options for scientific and methodological support of educational activities and professional pedagogical practice at the university for students to master a complex of special knowledge, skills and abilities, as well as to acquire independent experience of leisure and educational activities for the effective implementation of the activities of the classroom teacher. Methodology. The study was conducted on the basis of the implementation of a model of scientific and methodological support for the preparation of pedagogical university students for pedagogical animation, which assumed the organization of the educational process in the form of a set of personality-oriented educational technologies (gaming, theater, pedagogical improvisation, individual support and professional tests, etc.) providing the opportunity for students to develop organizational, communicative, reflexive and analytical abilities, necessary and sufficient for effective activity as classroom teachers. In conclusion, it is concluded that animation educational technologies, provided they are adapted to the recommendations of the exemplary education program, can be considered as one of the options for scientific and methodological support for the training of pedagogical university students as classroom teachers.

Aging Management: Organization and Characterization of Physical Activity, Sport and Leisure Practices for the elderly public in the city of Canindé/CE/Brazil

The present study aimed to characterize the activities related to physical activities, sports and leisure for the elderly public, organized within the scope of municipal public policies, in the City of Canindé/CE. The methodology applied had as a guiding parameter an exploratory field research in the period 2018-2019, with qualitative data surveys via descriptive analysis, observation of the managers' speeches through a semistructured interview, developed during field visits, with analysis of documents (attendance and lesson plans) in the respective establishments. The sample consisted of Coordinators and/or Monitors responsible for the Social Programs and/or Projects of the Social Assistance Reference Center (CRAS); Urban Social Center (CSU); Elderly Living Center (CCI); and Health Department (NASF). The triangulation of the inventoried sources, in the light of the literature obtained, indicated that the development of social programs and projects characterized as public policies of municipal management in the city of Canindé, presented a small population coverage of elderly participants, making the approach and reach insufficient, in terms of coverage when compared to the total population of this age group in that municipality. However, the Programs/Projects analyzed indicated that these practices of physical activity, sport and leisure were of a diversified nature, undertaken on the manifestation of the body culture of movement, in which assumptions for improving the quality of life around the domains are revealed. physical, psychological and social, provided for in the National Health Policy for the Elderly (Brazil, 1994).