Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
• a subjective view which emphasises leisure as a qualitative concept in which leisure
activities take on a meaning only within the context of individual perceptions and
belief systems and can therefore occur at any time in any setting.
According to Herbert (1988), leisure is therefore best seen as time over which an
individual exercises choice and undertakes activities in a free, voluntary way.
Leisure activities are of considerable interest to geographers (e.g. La very 1975;
Patmore 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980; Coppock 1982; Herbert 1987). Traditional approaches
to the study of leisure by geographers focused on leisure in terms of activities. In
contrast, Glyptis (198la) argued for the adoption of the concept of leisure lifestyles which
emphasised the impqrtance of individual perceptions of leisure.
This allows the totality of an individual's leisure experiences to be
considered and is a subjective approach which shifts the emphasis from
activity to people, from aggregate to individual and from expressed
activities to the functions which these fulfill for the participant and the
social and locational circumstances in which he or she undertakes them.
(Herbert 1988:243)
Such an experiential approach towards leisure has been extremely influential. For
example, Featherstone (1987) argued that
The significance and meaning of a particular set of leisure choices…can
only be made intelligible by inscribing them on a map of the class-defined
social field of leisure and lifestyle practices in which their meaning and
significance is relationally defined with reference to structured
oppositions and differences.
(Featherston 1987:115)
Similarly, such an experiential definition of leisure was used by G.Shaw and
A.M.Williams (1994) in their critical examination of tourism from a geographical
perspective.
However, while such a phenomenological approach to defining leisure, and therefore
tourism and recreation, is valuable in highlighting the social context in which leisure is
both defined and occurs, such an approach will clearly be at odds with 'objective',
technical approaches towards definitions which can be applied in a variety of situations
and circumstances (see Chapter 2). Yet it should be emphasised that such definitions are
being used for different purposes. A universally accepted definition of leisure, tourism
and recreation is an impossibility. Definitions will change according to their purpose and
context. They are setting the 'rules of the game' or 'engagement' for discussion,
argument and research. By defining terms we give meaning to what we are doing.
Even given the subjective nature of leisure, however, at a larger scale it may still be
possible to aggregate individual perceptions and activities to provide a collective or
commonly held impression of the relationship between leisure, tourism and recreation. In
this sense, tourism and recreation are generally regarded as subsets of the wider concept
of leisure (Coppock 1982; P.E.Murphy 1985; Herbert 1988). In the wider context of
