Summary
Contents
`This book confirms David Harris' status as a leading theorist in contemporary culture and leisure in the UK. He offers a distinctive, coherent and authoritative guide to the major concepts and debates that should engage leisure scholars and scholarship' - Dr Peter Bramham, Senior Lecturer in Leisure Studies, Leeds Metropolitan UniversityWritten with the needs of today's student in mind, the SAGE Key Concepts series provides accessible, authoritative and reliable coverage of the essential issues in a range of disciplines. Written in each case by experienced and respected experts in the subject area, the books are indispensable study aids and guides to comprehension. Cross-referenced throughout, the format encourages understanding without sacrificing the level of detail and critical evaluation essential to convey the complexity of the issues.Key Concepts in Leisure Studies:• Provides a student-friendly guide to the key debates in leisure studies• Reflects recent developments in the field, encompassing related work in media studies, cultural studies, sports studies and sociology • Cross-references each 1500 word exposition to other concepts in the field• Offers definitions, section outlines and further reading guidance for independent learning• Is supported by the author's website http:/www.arasite.org/keyconc.html• Is essential reading for undergraduates and NVQ students in leisure studies.
Postmodernism
Postmodernism
Postmodernism refers to a cultural development after modernism, featuring playful experimental combination of previously separate styles and elements. Particular combinations are taken as especially characteristic. Postmodernization usually refers to social processes such as the decline of modernist social groups (such as social classes and nation-states) and the subsequent development of differentiation and cultural autonomy. Theoreticians debate whether and how the two are connected.
Section Outline:Postmodernism and the disillusion with modernism (‘scepticism towards metanarratives’). Collapsing boundaries in film and television. Postmodern leisure: hyperreality, ‘death tours’, virtual leisure, ‘casual leisure’. Postmodernization as differentiation and dedifferentiation: commodification, rationalization, post-Fordism. Possibilities to resist and reverse these trends and the implications for leisure.
This entry might best be read in conjunction with the entry on posts; in that discussion we suggest ...
