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A Handbook of Leisure Studies pp 93–108Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Sociology and Cultural Studies

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Abstract

In order to survive people need to do things. They have to eat and drink, protect themselves from heat and cold, violence and illnesses. These activities take time. There are great differences in the amount of time individuals, groups and societies spend on necessary activities, but most people, particularly among the wealthier groups and societies, will not have to spend all their time on these activities. Apart from time to rest and sleep, they will have some spare time, time not burdened with more or less unavoidable or obligated tasks. In societies where civil rights and freedoms are somehow (constitutionally) guaranteed, this spare time, if not wholly needed for rest and recuperation, can be experienced as relatively free time, time in which one feels free — and often actually is free — to pursue goals and undertake activities of one’s own choosing. Roughly speaking, leisure encompasses the goals and activities people choose freely to fill their least obligated time.

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Authors
  1. Hugo van der Poel
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Law and Social Science, Brunel University, West London, UK

    Chris Rojek

  2. Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies, University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

    Susan M. Shaw

  3. School of Leisure, Sport and Tourism, University of Technology, Sydney, Australia

    A. J. Veal

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© 2006 Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited

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van der Poel, H. (2006). Sociology and Cultural Studies. In: Rojek, C., Shaw, S.M., Veal, A.J. (eds) A Handbook of Leisure Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230625181_6

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