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The Sociology of Leisure: an Estranged Child of Mainstream Sociology

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Abstract

Starting with Veblen the rocky career of the sociology of leisure is traced up to the present. The field grows slowly during the first half of the twentieth century in North America and Britain and then from approximately 1950 to 1970 it enjoys a spurt of research. After that mainstream sociology in various ways abandons its progeny referred to here as subdisciplinary sociology of leisure. Fortunately, interdisciplinary sociology of leisure comes alive and continues to develop a vibrant, research-based conceptual foundation anchored in new ideas bubbling up from the interdisciplinary side and trickling down from the disciplinary mainstream. Despite this ferment the sociological mainstream remains seriously out of touch with what is happening in the sociological part of interdisciplinary leisure studies. This is most unfortunate. Leisure activities are universal and widely sought after. They are thus positive, a quality of social life to which mainstream sociology, being problem-centered, has given short shrift.

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Notes

  1. See also Backlund and Kuentzel (2013) for a similar argument on the relationship of serious leisure and the generation of social capital as it leads to social change.

  2. Other early thinkers on deviant leisure, include Curtis (1988) on “purple recreation” and Rojek (1997) on “abnormal leisure.”

  3. Staci Newmahr (2011) sums up the highly complex scientific view of homosexuality vis-à-vis public sentiment on the matter: “irrespective of whether homosexuality is relevant as an analytical category, many people view deviation from the cultural norm of heterosexual dyadic partnerships as deeply problematic” (p. 258). That homosexuality is listed in this article as tolerably deviant leisure is consistent with common sense.

  4. All are appointed in sociology departments.

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  1. University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada

    Robert A. Stebbins

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  1. Robert A. Stebbins
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Stebbins, R.A. The Sociology of Leisure: an Estranged Child of Mainstream Sociology. Int J Sociol Leis 1, 43–53 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41978-017-0003-5

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