Abstract
Although a foundational concept to leisure studies, alienation still holds significant promise for helping us understand leisure in contemporary society. Starting from Marx’s writing on alienation, this chapter illustrates the influence Marx’s writing and methods have had on leisure studies. Leisure studies draws much from Marx’s articulation of value as being produced from exchange. In the modern world, this exchange is found within the consumption model of leisure, making leisure not an escape from alienation, but rather as significant feature of modern alienation. Instead of seeing leisure as a salve to modern ills, Marx’s scholarship suggests that we look at how leisure is a historically constructed social and economic system that is rooted in the material conditions of production and the capitalist theory of value.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Andrew, E. (1981). Closing the iron cage. Montreal: Black Rose Books.
Arai, S., & Pedlar, A. (2003). Moving beyond individualism in leisure theory: A critical analysis of concepts of community and social engagement. Leisure Studies, 22(3), 185–202.
Bailey, P. (1978). Leisure and class in Victorian England. New York: Routledge.
Banks, M. (2009). Fit and working again: The instrumental leisure of the “creative class”. Environment and Planning A, 41(3), 668–681.
Borsay, P. (2006). A history of leisure. New York: Palgrave.
Callinicos, A. (2011). The revolutionary ideas of Karl Marx. Chicago: Haymarket.
Clarke, J., & Critcher, C. (1985). The devil makes work: Leisure in capitalist Britain. Chicago: University of Illinois.
Connolly, K. (2008, October 15). Booklovers turn to Karl Marx as financial crisis bites Germany. The Guardian. Available from: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/oct/15/marx-germany-popularity-financial-crisis. Accessed 22 June 2016.
Dare, B., Welton, G., & Coe, W. (1987). Concepts of leisure in western thought. Dubuque: Kendall/Hunt.
Fromm, E. (1961). Marx’s concept of man. New York: Frederick Ungar.
Gorz, A. (1982). Farwell to the working class. Boston: South End.
Hinman, L. (1978). Marx’s theory of play, leisure and unalienated praxis. Philosophy & Social Criticism, 5, 192–228.
Kelly, J. (1991). Commodification and consciousness: An initial study. Leisure Studies, 10(1), 7–18.
Marx, K. (1844). The philosophical and economic manuscripts of 1844. New York: International Books.
Marx, K. (1845). Theses on Feuerbach. In D. McLellan (Ed.), Selected writings (pp. 156–158). Oxford: Oxford University.
Marx, K. (1867). Capital (Vol. 1). London: Lawrence and Wishart.
Marx, K., & Engels, F. (1845). The holy family, or critique of critical criticism against Bruno Bauer and company. Moscow: Foreign Languages Publishing House.
Ravenscroft, N., & Gilchrist, P. (2009). The emergent working society of leisure. Journal of Leisure Research, 44(1), 23–39.
Rojek, C. (1985). Capitalism and leisure theory. London: Tavistock.
Rojek, C. (1993). Ways of escape. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield.
Rojek, C. (2009). The labour of leisure. London: Sage.
Rojek, C. (2013). Is Marx still relevant to the study of leisure? Leisure Studies, 32(1), 19–33.
Sayers, S. (1998). Marxism and human nature. New York: Routledge.
Spracklen, K. (2013). Leisure, sports & society. New York: Palgrave.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2017 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Erickson, B. (2017). Marx, Alienation and Dialectics Within Leisure. In: Spracklen, K., Lashua, B., Sharpe, E., Swain, S. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Leisure Theory. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-56479-5_26
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-56479-5_26
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-137-56478-8
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-56479-5
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)