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.
Virtual Leisure
Virtual Leisure
Any leisure activity using access to the Net or Web is included in the definition of virtual leisure here. There are also forms which are only practically possible via the Net or Web – instantaneous chat, virtual reality, immediate access to leisure materials (including some illegal ones), online communities. The last example links with the use of ‘virtual’ social realities in social theory.
Section Outline:The Web and the Net as embodying postmodernist leisure: the collapse of internal boundaries and hyperreality. Identity gender, cyborgs and the Net. Constraints in flexible electronic identities. Virtual possibilities and online (leisure) communities.
Although the early stages of the Internet may have been dominated by military and then educational users, developments such as the World Wide Web mark a shift ...
