text:
This action might not be possible to undo. Are you sure you want to continue?
Fourth Edition, July, 2009
A. J. Veal
Working Paper 9, School of Leisure, Sport and Tourism
Citation for this edition: Veal, A. J. (2009) The Elusive Leisure Society, Third Edition. School of Leisure, Sport and Tourism Working Paper 9, Sydney: University of Technology, Sydney, available at: www.leisure source.net. This edition of the working paper will in due course be uploaded to the UTS website and will replace the earlier edition currently available on that site at: www.business.uts.edu.au/lst/ research/ research_papers.html.
1. 2. 3. Introduction......................................................................................................................... 1 Recalling the 'leisure society' thesis. ................................................................................. 3 Origins. ................................................................................................................................ 8 1890: Alfred Marshall, UK: Principles of Economics.......................................................... 9 1899: Thorstein Veblen, USA: The Theory of the Leisure Class......................................... 9 The leisure society concept in the 1920s and '30s. ......................................................... 11 Introduction: the problem of leisure. .................................................................................. 11 The New Leisure................................................................................................................. 11 1922: Alfred H. Lloyd, USA: Ages of Leisure. .................................................................. 13 1922: Lewis Mumford, USA: Utopia/Technics and Civilization. ...................................... 14 1923: Bertrand Russell, UK: In Praise of Idleness. ............................................................ 16 1926: George Cutten, USA: The Threat of Leisure............................................................ 16 1928: Herbert May and Dorothy Petgen, USA: Leisure and Its Use. ................................. 17 1931: John Maynard Keynes, UK: Economic Possibilities for our Grandchildren. ........... 17 1932: C. C. Furnas, USA: The Two-hour Working Day. ................................................... 19 1932: Jay B. Nash, USA: Spectatoritis. .............................................................................. 19 1933: Spencer Miller, USA: Labor and the Challenge of the New Leisure. ...................... 20
1934: George A. Lundberg et al., USA: Leisure: a Suburban Study. ................................. 20 1934: Arthur Newton Pack, USA: The Challenge of Leisure. ........................................... 21 1935: C. E. M. Joad, UK: Diogenes – or the Future of Leisure . ...................................... 22 1938: Henry Durant, UK: The Problem of Leisure . .......................................................... 22 1939: Roger Payne, USA: Why Work? The Coming 'Age of Leisure and Plenty' . ........... 23 5. The leisure society concept in the 1950s, '60s and '70s.................................................. 24 Passing references............................................................................................................... 24 1945/1955: Georges Friedmann, France: The Anatomy of Work. ..................................... 25 1950: David Riesman, USA: The Lonely Crowd. .............................................................. 28 1954/64: Jacques Ellul, France: The Technological Society. ............................................. 29 1955: George Soule, USA: Time for Living....................................................................... 30 1955: Herbert Marcuse, USA: Eros and Civilization. ........................................................ 31 1956/1991: Erich Fromm, USA: The Sane Society............................................................ 31 1958: Russell Lynes, USA: Time on our Hands................................................................. 33 1958: Harvey Swados, USA: Less Work – Less Leisure.................................................... 33 1958: David Dempsey, USA: Myth of the New Leisure Class........................................... 34 1959: Reuel Denney, USA: The Leisure Society................................................................ 34 1960: Clark Kerr et al., USA: Industrialism and Industrial Man ....................................... 34 1960: Harold Wilensky, USA: Work, Careers and Social Integration. .............................. 35 1960: Max Kaplan, USA: Leisure in America. .................................................................. 35 1962: Outdoor Recreation Resources Review Commission (ORRRC), USA. .................. 36 1962: Joffre Dumazedier, France: Toward a Society of Leisure. ....................................... 37 1962: Sebastian De Grazia, USA: Of Time, Work and Leisure. ........................................ 39 1964: Denis Gabor, UK: Inventing the Future.................................................................... 40 1964: Robert Lee, USA: Religion and Leisure in America. ............................................... 41 1965: Michael Dower, UK: The Fourth Wave. .................................................................. 41 1967: Herman Kahn and Anthony Wiener, USA: The Year 2000. .................................... 42 1967: John Kenneth Galbraith, USA: The New Industrial State........................................ 45 1970: Gilbert Burck, USA: Less Leisure than you Think................................................... 45 1970: Kenneth Roberts, UK: Leisure. ................................................................................ 46 1970: Staffan Linder, Sweden/USA: The Harried Leisure Class. ...................................... 47 1970: Alvin Toffler, USA: Future Shock. .......................................................................... 48 1971: Stanley Parker, UK: The Future of Work and Leisure. ............................................ 49 1971: Frederick L. Bates, USA: Social Trends in a Leisure Society.................................. 49 1972: H. Douglas Sessoms, USA: Recreation.................................................................... 50 1973: House of Lords, UK: Sport and Leisure. .................................................................. 51 1973: Daniel Bell, USA: The Coming of Post-Industrial Society. ..................................... 51 1975: Thomas Kando, USA: Toward a leisure society?..................................................... 52 1978: Jonathan Gershuny, UK: After Industrial Society? The Self-service Economy....... 53
6. The leisure society concept in the 1980s, '90s and 2000s. ................................................. 55 Introduction......................................................................................................................... 55 Passing references............................................................................................................... 55 1979-86: Clive Jenkins and Barrie Sherman, UK: The Collapse of Work......................... 56 1979-89: Various authors, UK: Replacing the Work Ethic. ............................................... 57 1980: Roger Vickerman, UK: The New Leisure Society. .................................................. 58 1980: André Gorz, France: Farewell to the Working Class................................................ 59 1981: Ecology Party, UK: Working for a Future................................................................ 59 1982: John R. Kelly, USA: Leisure and the Future. ........................................................... 60 1982: Barry Jones, Australia: Sleepers Wake!. .................................................................. 61
A. J. Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society, UTS, 2009
1983: Otto Newman, UK: The Coming of a Leisure Society?. .......................................... 62 1983: Phillip Ruthven, Australia: Future Economic and Social Environment................... 63 1983: Tom Stonier, UK: The Wealth of Information. ........................................................ 64 1984: Charles Handy, UK: The Future of Work................................................................. 64 1984: Jonathan Porritt, UK: Seeing Green. ........................................................................ 64 1985: James Robertson, UK: Future Work......................................................................... 65 1985: Michael Rose, UK: Re-working the Work Ethic...................................................... 66 1985: Joel Novek, USA: Is the Automated Paradise Possible?.......................................... 66 1987: A. J. Veal, UK: Leisure and the Future. ................................................................... 67 1988: Jeremy Seabrook, UK: The Leisure Society............................................................. 67 1994: Stanley Aronowitz and William DiFazio, USA: The Jobless Future. ...................... 68 1995: Jeremy Rifkin, USA: The End of Work. .................................................................. 69 1999/2000: Ulrick Beck, Germany: The Brave New World of Work. ............................... 70 2005: John Tribe, UK: Trends in work and leisure: a leisure society?............................... 71 2009: Neil Ravenscroft &Paul Gilchrist, UK: Emergent working society of leisure. ........ 72 7. Summary and concluding observations. ............................................................................ 73 1. The leisure compensation thesis. .................................................................................... 79 2. Future leisure society prediction..................................................................................... 79 3. The existing leisure society proposition. ........................................................................ 79 4. The leisure civilisation challenge. .................................................................................. 80 5. Leisure time growth scepticism. ..................................................................................... 80 6. The self-service economy. .............................................................................................. 80 7. Work ethic reform........................................................................................................... 81 8. Practical concerns. .......................................................................................................... 81 9. Leisure time ambivalence. .............................................................................................. 81 10. Leisure society rejection. .............................................................................................. 81 References . ............................................................................................................................... 83
List of tables
1. Summary of sources............................................................................................................... 74
A. J. Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society, UTS, 2009
The aim of the exercise reported on in this paper was to begin this task. Introduction As this paper on the 'leisure society' is being finalised the world is suffering from the early effects of the Global Financial Crisis. Writings on the leisure society concept in these periods are reviewed below in chronological sections. apparently widely subscribed to in the early days of leisure studies. the consequences of this were often seen. since Juliet Schor (1991). As the tracking process developed. with the approach of war. in the depression years. the severity of which increasingly resembles that of the Great Depression of the 1930s. and it was revived in the 1980s and '90s. it is noted that English translations of some A. alongside an increase in the aspiration to achieve personal. 2009 1 . held at the University of Brighton. the search revealed relevant contributions from as far back as the 1920s and continuing up to the current decade. therefore. was never signed into law by the President. with numerous apparently unconnected strands. It is ironic. which was: 'Whatever happened to the leisure society?' The conference website stated: Cultural pundits and social scientific forecasters of the earlier post-war period heralded leisure as a form of utopian progressiveness. One of the characteristics of the recollections of contemporary commentators is their selective. prompted by the Global Financial Crisis but by the theme of the 2007 Leisure Studies Association conference. It was decided that a broader. (LSA. in the existence in Western society of a trend towards ever-reducing working hours and increased leisure time. possibly leading to dystopia rather than utopia. An attempt was made to be as comprehensive as possible in tracking down references to the leisure society in the literature – the on-line working paper format has therefore been used deliberately to facilitate future revisions as overlooked material comes to light. however. certainly in the academic literature. relational and cultural satisfactions in and through leisure. and deeper. In particular. It is found that discussion of the leisure society. J. and predicted a decline in work and the benefits accruing from traditional work activities. it appeared that the 'archaeology' of the leisure society concept was quite complex. There is also scope for exploration of utopian literature but this has not been pursued here (but see Veal. thus the timing of contributions is important. The paper was not. Clearly. Material is therefore presented in strict chronological order. 1987: 27ff). In the event. While a continuing decline in working hours was almost universally expected. not as inevitably utopian. While these recollections refer to statements supposedly made in the growth period of the 1960s and early 1970s. when high unemployment reappeared in Western economies. A number of other examples is referred to in the next section of this paper. The LSA conference organisers are not alone in having recollections of earlier prognostications of a 'leisure society'. prompted partly by the reductions in working hours achieved since the turn of the century but also by the rising level of unemployment brought about by the depression. 2006) Implicit in the conference title and this accompanying statement was the proposition that there was belief. UTS. The latter concerns gave rise to a bill to reduce the standard working week to 30 hours. disparate and generally brief references to the literature. examination of the literature was required to establish what exactly earlier commentators and analysts had said about the leisure society concept and when. which would eventually result in a 'leisure society'. This was naïve and. ambivalent and contradictory than the recollections of contemporary commentators suggest. but as a serious challenge for society. is more subtle. discussion of a leisure society has emerged from time to time in response to the changing economic and industrial environment. the leisure society idea dates back at least to the 1930s. we all now know that it was misguided. Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society. to note that the earliest discussions of the concept of a leisure society appeared in the 1920s and '30s. limited reference is made to related nineteenth century sources.1. which was passed by the US Congress but. In addition.
to be within reach. age of leisure: used infrequently. as a tantalising. or threatening. but perhaps with the emphasis on the cultural. arguing that the whole idea is an illusion. so it has been separated from this paper and will. the new leisure: a term which emerged initially in the 1930s to describe the quantitative and qualitative changes in leisure being experienced at that time. to some. in due course. UTS. Different writers use different terms to describe the topic under consideration. terms used include: • leisure society: this is the most commonly used. and probably economically. J. I have also been concerned to document exactly what was said about the leisure society concept. such as the just society. it recedes or even disappears. began to turn into a significant project in its own right. • • • • • The title of this paper is The Elusive Leisure Society: referring to the apparently elusive nature of the phenomenon: whenever it is appears. whether it is illusive or just elusive depends on how it is defined. possibility. or even paradise. however. so extensive use is made of direct quotations The sources consulted almost universally envisaged a continuing reduction in working hours and/or a reduction in the demand for labour in industrial and post-industrial economies. This.non-English-language publications – notably French – have often appeared many years after publication in their original language. leisure-orientated society: used by Kahn and by Douglas Sessoms (see below). based on historical evidence. only to emerge again. but can be seen as close civilisation of leisure. of course. some years later. but the paucity of definitions means that it is not always clear whether the choice of terms is conscious and significant. focussed on leisure. like other ideas that hitherto have existed only in the human mind. society of leisure: this should be equivalent to leisure society but seems more equivocal. Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society. Rather than using the word elusive. many of the commentators reviewed below would have used the word illusive. appear as a separate paper in the same UTS working paper series. the equivalent of industrial society or agrarian society. 2009 2 . and is more tentative than the other terms. term – it implies a society which is at least culturally. A. and unequivocal. Perhaps. so even the chronology is far from simple. It is this phenomenon which Juliet Schor famously challenged in 1991: but what was the available evidence on working hours through the 20th century? In early drafts of the paper it was envisaged that a section would be devoted to what had been written on this topic over the years. civilisation of leisure: used only by Joffre Dumazedier – seems equivalent to leisure society.
at two points in his paper. which itself refers to an unidentified 1967 US senate sub-committee testimony which it has not been possible to trace.. Understanding Leisure. the sort of society that Keynes wrote about in his essay. Unfortunately. observing that this occurred 'on the heels of the widespread predictions that work was disappearing. 1989: 254). but without any supporting evidence. and which formed part of the flower-power future of the 1960s. under the heading 'Long-term prospects for the leisure society'. 271). but he does not discuss the idea of a 'leisure society' explicitly. 'Are we running out of time?'. . looks distinctly old-fashioned in a postThatcher 'New Model Britain'. despite the emerging observations to the contrary. The writings of Bell (1973).. Jonathan Gershuny states: The idea of an emerging leisure society. no reference is given to the 'many writers'. Any scholar interested in following up the origins of the idea of the 'leisure society' would naturally rely on the references given in such commentaries: a number of these therefore provided the starting point for this review. (Gershuny. key writers are listed in a table and associated with particular perspectives. As noted in Section 4 the issues which Lynes addresses are to do with the challenges of the present (the 1950s) rather than future conditions.2. • In their introductory text. In his concluding discussion. there was a preoccupation with. UTS. it was estimated that we could have either a twenty-hour week. Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society. that the four-day week is on the 'immediate horizon'. the advent of a 'leisure society'. In The Overworked American. contrary to popular belief. The first part of the statement is referenced to a paper by Russell Lynes (1958) and the second part to a Time magazine article. says: • • A. in a later summary chart relating to ideas on the future of leisure (p.. while for others. J. working hours in the USA increased in the post-World War II period. innovation'. By today. a six-month workyear. Daniel Bell. Juliet Schor notes that. Les Haywood and his colleagues state that 'For many writers the future is seen as 'the leisure society'. the long-term historical trend towards shorter working hours associated with increasing levels of economic development in industrial societies was continuing in the early 1990s. In a 1992 paper. Gershuny observes that declining working hours provide increased time for consumption of the growing quantity of commodities made possible by increased productivity. or a standard retirement age of thirty-eight' (Schor. Toffler (1980) and Tom Stonier (1983) are reviewed below but are found to be only tenuously associated with the leisure society idea. 1992: 3) Gershuny brings a range of historical statistical evidence to bear on trends in paid and unpaid work time and their consequences for leisure time. Recalling the 'leisure society' thesis A number of contemporary commentators have referred to an earlier period in leisure studies when. although he does say. they claim. 'On the economic prospects for out grandchildren' [see below]. Alvin Toffler and Tom Stonier are associated with 'post-industrialism' and 'Leisure society – diversity of life-styles. and a belief in. The leisure society concept is not discussed further in the text but. experience. in an introductory paper subtitled 'Whatever happened to the 'leisure age'?'. 1991: 4). • In a 1996 collection of conference papers on work and leisure. the editor Chris Gratton. concluding that. 2009 3 . this comes as a shock' (Haywood et al. Some examples are presented below.
Brown and Rowe conclude that such a revolution has not taken place in Australia and they are ambivalent about prospects for the future.We do not have to go back very far to find many commentators [who] predicted that by the end of the twentieth century (ie. Leisure Theory: Principles and Practice. On the basis of statistics on trends in work and leisure time. which is concerned more with the likely negative effects of mass leisure within current industrial in the context of cultural participation in its broadest sense. although in a passing comment they anticipate something close to it. now!) we would be moving towards a 'leisure age'. predicted the rise of the leisure society. while Kaplan makes only a passing reference. UTS. (Rojek. • In analysing the history of leisure studies. as referred to in the earlier quotation. to another theorist's use of the term. Rojek states: Kerr and his associates (1973). Bell refers. In an earlier paper on Thorstein Veblen and human need Rojek (1995: 80-81) associates Veblen with the 'evolution of leisure society' and 'mass leisure' – this is discussed under Veblen below. Both are referred to later in this paper and it is found that. 1996: 1) Gratton refers to just two examples of such commentators: Roger Vickerman and John Maynard Keynes. A brief review of what each of the other three authors had to say on the 'leisure society' is provided below. (Gratton. but not without some trepidation. in his well-known 1930 essay. 48). in effect. 2005: 3) The first three of these authors were not leisure studies scholars but the post-industrial society theorists. 2000: 27-8) However. despite the use of the term in the title of his 1980 paper. J. Bell (1974). Peter Brown and David Rowe do not mention the 'leisure society' as such. But did they predict the rise of the leisure society? No reference to the 'leisure society' can be found in Alain Touraine's The PostIndustrial Society. Rojek identifies Schor. later in the book (p. Gratton did have to 'go back very far' (66 years in fact) to find the latter commentator! • In a the body of a 1998 paper entitled 'The coming of the leisure society? Leisure time use in contemporary Australia'. 2009 . Vickerman makes very little reference to the leisure society while. does. Rojek argues that Juliet Schor's thesis of the overworked American was: … a valuable antidote to the post-industrial society theorists of the 1960s and early 1970s who identified the mechanization of work and the expansion of computer technologies with the coming of the leisure society. inaccurately as it happens. along with Aronowitz and Di Fazio (1994) (see below) with the proposition that 'we must move to the leisure society'. In his 2000 book. The four authors in fact present far more complex and ambivalent analyses of possible work and leisure futures than Rojek implies. Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society. Keynes. do not use the term. foresee a possible leisure society. Peter Bramham (2006) sees 'leisure society' as the first of three major 'projects' addressed by the leisure studies field (the other two being: 4 • A. but they do state: 'In the 1970s many social commentators predicted a 'leisure revolution' driven by automation and new technologies in industry and in the home' (Brown and Rowe. in seeking to summarise the essence of early leisure studies. In his 2005 volume. and it is found that: Kerr et al. Touraine (1971) and Kaplan (1975). Leisure and Culture. None of the 'many social commentators' are identified. 1998: 89). (Rojek.
Similarly. Roberts rejects the leisure society idea as 'misconceived' (Roberts. and leisure shock associated with affluence. since the Future Foundation's report on Leisure Time and Leisure Types. the original project around the mission to develop and manage 'leisure society' can be dismissed as naïve' (Bramham. Bramham concludes: 'With hindsight. When it became obvious that these predictions were not going to be realized. costs £2. No 'pundits' are referenced. the British] time for leisure has increased by a pathetic twenty minutes a day between 1961 and 1995. Of the three authors referred to by Bramham. from socialising to sports. discusses the leisure society concept. but refers to 'iconic texts' of the period by Stanley Parker. this representation of Dumazedier's position is misleading. What is noteworthy here is that the interest in this debate focussed less on an interest in leisure per se. states: . (Bunting. 2009 • • 5 . Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society... • John Tribe (2005: 71) states: 'It was the French sociologist Joffre Dumazedier (1967) who wrote tantalizingly about the imminent arrival of the Leisure Society in the 1960s' – but. Parker (1971) is reviewed below. 2006: 388). • Chris Bull and colleagues (2003: 282). Despite all the increases in labour-saving technologies in the home. In the 'leisure society project' of the 1970s.'leisure as control/resistance' and 'post-modern leisure'). optimism and progress. J. but a fall in all kinds of leisure activity but. no such reference can be found in Leisure and Family Life Cycle (Rapoport and Rapoport. Susan Shaw.500. Madeleine Bunting. but is found to contain no specific reference to a leisure society. who is reviewed below. 1978: 146). where leisure would replace work as the central motivating force in people's lives . 1967.. the details have not been checked. only Roberts. 2005: 202) This is a scenario which merits further investigation: an increase of more than two hours a week in leisure time. based on the assumption that rapid technological progress would reduce the need for labour and thus for paid employment... public leisure services and participation. the idea of leisure participants as 'clients' of leisure professionals. as indicated in the section on Dumazedier below. .. the issue was dropped as a topic of debate. Larrabee and Meyersohn. Bramham does not make specific links between individual texts and the 'leisure society' idea. to which Bunting refers. in Willing Slaves: how the Overwork Culture is Ruling our Lives. states: One such moment goes back to the 1950s and 60s when there were many predictions about the coming 'Age of Leisure' (eg. Rhona and Robert Rapoport and Kenneth Roberts. 1975).'. our [ie. 1958). Dumazedier. although there is reference to others' use of the term 'leisure explosion' and the authors themselves call for a 'new culture' in regard to public policymaking and planning for leisure. A. social reformism. But his views changed radically over time and in the specific text to which Bramham refers.. he argues that the 'work-leisure couplet was central' and it was characterised by: Fordism. the predictions of a leisure age have been strangled by the rise of a neo-liberal capitalism which exhausts its workers. And it's getting worse: recent figures collected by the Future Foundation show a fall in every kind of leisure activity. state: 'In the 1970s . UTS. with a surprising lack of interest about why the predictions were so inaccurate and/or why work continued to dominate people's lives despite technological progress and efficiency. some pundits were proclaiming that we were on the verge of achieving the leisure society. in their introductory textbook. in discussing moments in the past when leisure attracted popular debate..
namely Riesman. Parker. Coalter is not unique in assuming that a report entitled Planning for Leisure was about planning: Evans (2001: 110 ) makes the same mistake.. 2009 1 6 .. Josef Pieper and Russell Lynes respectively. UTS. Dumazedier's position was more complex than predicting a coming 'Age of Leisure'. 1969. 1962). including a reprint of Bertrand Russell's essay. it is in fact an excerpt from a longer 1960 paper by Wilensky with a similar title.g. Four papers. Planning for Leisure. and the resultant social unrest that might occur . indicating that it is similarly misleading to suggest that they prophesied a future 'leisure society'. by David Riesman. The contributions of Bell. who. there is not even an introductory or concluding comment linking the data to planning issues. Lynes' (1958) discussion does not discuss future leisure scenarios. An enquiry into the present pattern of participation in outdoor and physical recreation and the frequency and manner of use of public open-spaces. (Waring. 1979. The book includes some philosophical papers on what leisure should be. leisure is typically upheld as the glorious antithesis to work. J. The paper by Pieper is a chapter on 'Leisure as contemplation' reprinted from his well-known book Leisure the Basis of Culture. and whose comments on the consequences of reduced working hours are entirely negative. (Shaw. Veal.1 • Amanda Waring has recently stated: . is a better reflection of the report's content. as noted in relation to Juliet Schor's reference above. is not concerned with planning for leisure as such. which were not primarily about the future but about leisure as it had already become in 1950s America: a commercialised mass phenomenon. Fred Coalter quotes from a 1966 UK Sports Council document which referred to a 'dramatic evolution in our material progress' and 'more and more people acquiring leisure and the means to enjoy it' (Coalter. He then comments: This was a reflection of a more general concern to promote public planning provision and the management for sport to cater for the demands of the new 'leisure age' (Sillitoe. 1988). it is an entirely factual summary of a participation survey.. 1971. Sillitoe's (1969) Government Social Survey report. Seabrook. Parker and Seabrook are discussed below. Incidentally. which does discuss leisure. This positive impression of leisure led many theorists from the 1960s onwards to prophesise (sic) about a future 'leisure society' (see. Harvey Swados. Two of these are featured below. But to suggest that this upheld leisure as a 'glorious antithesis to work' is seriously misleading. in the paper referred to. are included in a section on 'The Future of Leisure'. 1973. does not mention or endorse the idea of a leisure society. Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society. 2007: 9). Blackie et al. among people living in the urban areas of England and Wales. e. a period of time where we can make up for the long hours of 'working' (Wilensky. and Swados who does not use the term leisure society. • In his recent book on sport policy. as discussed below. (Coalter.and more on concerns about unemployment. despite its title. Bell. which features below. Larrabee and Meyersohn's (1958) Mass Leisure was an edited volume of 42 papers. 2008: 296) The 1962 paper by Harold Wilensky referred to here does not mention leisure. while... underemployment. 1982). 2007: 9) None of the three references given says anything about a new 'leisure age'. A. The lengthy subtitle. 2006: 40) As is noted below.
• Ben Carrington. in introducing the novel concept of a 'working society of leisure' (discussed in Section 5) refer to Thorstein Veblen's ''leisure society' thesis' and Joffre Dumazedier's 'vision of an accessible leisure society'. or as well as. In neither reference does he offer any examples or sources. A. the institutionalisation of leisure studies in the 1970s occurred at the same time as the sociology of work was (pre)occupying itself with explaining why the 'leisure society' so eagerly predicted in the 1950s and 1960s failed to materialise. it is difficult to sustain the argument that Veblen proposed a 'leisure society thesis'. in introducing a special issue of Leisure Studies on the relationship between labour and leisure. (Carrington. states: In Britain at least. UTS. Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society. leisure studies theorists. 2008: 369) This suggests that the leisure society thesis was at least in part the responsibility of sociology of work theorists rather than. • Neil Ravenscroft and Paul Gilchrist (2009). precise timing and content of the leisure society thesis. Dumazedier's concept of a 'civilisation of leisure' is discussed in Section 4 below and. prompted by contemporary commentators. provide only limited guidance on the sources. Later in the paper Carrington refers to 'mid-twentieth century utopian fantasies of the leisure rich society for all' (p. In fact. 2009 7 . J. the inaccuracies in these recollections gave rise to initial suspicions that the leisure society thesis might be no more than a myth. Thus the initial explorations in the literature. 373). as discussed in Section 3 below.
. The omnipotent Creator could have made the world in three days just as easily as he made it in six. In Campanella's City of the Sun (1602)... examined the issue. Alfred Marshall. everyone works just four hours a day and 'all energetic and sporting activities' are favoured (Tod and Wheeler. Thus in More's Utopia (1516) daily hours of work are reduced to six. One of the leading figures in neo-classical economics. UTS. Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society. Origins The dream of a society without work has a long history. In their study. the pattern for human work and leisure was set when God created the universe in six days and rested on the seventh. There is many a sweet sight. The Garden of Eden expresses such a dream. There no lack of food or cloth. 1987: 27-34).. and sorry I am that it does not come oftener. and yet it was not so ordained. nor strife. A. Serious utopian writings have generally envisaged a reduction in the hours of work. But the authors of Genesis record that even before the appearance of the Garden of Eden. All is day. I say again. such worms as we are might reasonably expect to break down in three. who founded the school of 'institutional' economics. All is sporting. Utopia. and so require two Sundays . J. which is shattered by 'Adam's curse': 'In the sweat of they face shalt though eat bread' (Genesis. as did Thorstein Veblen. and 1 dare swear No land is like it anywhere. There no death but endless life.3. 1866/2009: 95) In folklore the 'Land of Cockayne' epitomizes the common people's fantasy that there exists. there is no night. which rejected the neo-classical framework..00 am. 3: 19). 'The Big Rock Candy Mountain'. There no man or woman wroth .. Serious consideration of work-leisure relations increases with the maturing of industrial capitalism in the late nineteenth century. (Twain. There is no quarrelling. Under heaven no land like this Of such joy and endless bliss. 1978: 10) As Sebastian De Grazia (1962: 363) points out. 1978: 3). a contemporary version of the same notions is encapsulated in the song. Mark Twain states: The day of rest comes but once a week. a land of leisure and plenty. I often think regretfully that it would have been so easy to have two Sundays in a week. however. Man is so constituted that he can stand more rest than this. 'Song of Cockayne': In Cockayne we drink and eat Freely without care and sweat The food is choice and clear the wine At fources and at supper time. Lucky the man that there be. joy and glee. Tod and Wheeler quote the folk ballad. the daily timetable indicates that the largest component of the leisure time released occurs between rising from bed at 4. (Tod and Wheeler. and this would have doubled the Sundays. but are less celebratory regarding the notion of leisure (Veal. In an irreverent essay on the sabbath. . but. somewhere. If all-powerful Providence grew weary after six days' labor. 2009 8 .00 am and beginning work at 9.
and especially the poorest. that people can learn to use leisure well: and no class of manual workers. but did consider situations in which increased labour productivity might offer the possibility of reducing working hours. it would probably be well that most people should work rather less: provided that the consequent loss of material income could be met exclusively by the abandonment by all classes of the least worthy methods of consumption: and that they could learn to spend leisure well. who are devoid of leisure. Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society. (Marshall. Thus. 1899: Thorstein Veblen. (Marshall. A. it would seem more conducive to the well-being of the nation as a whole. Rojek's (1995: 80-81) reference to the leisure society concept is a passing one and any link there may be between Veblen's theory of the leisure class and the concept of a leisure society is not discussed in detail. in every nation. to take measures for increasing the material means of a noble and refined life for all classes. Rojek also suggests that Veblen 'posits mass leisure as a product of industrial society' (p. for example. J. Some time free from the fatigue of work that tires without educating. 2 Marshall (1890/1961) comprises notes and annotations on earlier editions of Principles of Economics and shows that this section was changed several times between different editions. are not likely to adapt themselves quickly to long hours of leisure. since the average worker would be incapable of adapting to increased leisure time.. than to secure a sudden and very great diminution in the hours of labour of those who are not now weighed down by their work. is a necessary condition of a high standard of life. this was not true of conspicuous leisure. But he was ambivalent on the issue.. in early editions of Principles of Economics. UK: Principles of Economics Alfred Marshall did not discuss the idea of a 'leisure society'. but it would appear that. and in nothing more slowly than the hard task of learning to use leisure well. USA: The Theory of the Leisure Class As discussed above. while Veblen envisaged conspicuous consumption extending from the wealthy élite to other classes.2 He does. 2009 9 . so: . have been far more numerous than those who have known how to use leisure well. can have much self-respect and become full citizens. since adults.. whose habits are already formed... Marshall argued that. (Marshall.. argue the case for leisure time as a need: .1890: Alfred Marshall. 1890/1920: 720 To some extent anticipating Veblen's 'conspicuous waste'. he argues that some work time could be saved by dispensing with that substantial proportion of consumer expenditure which contributes little or nothing 'towards making life nobler or truly happier'. 1890/1920: 720) However. the third quotation above was deleted from the fifth (1907) and subsequent editions. Chris Rojek has associated Thorstein Veblen's Theory of the Leisure Class with the 'evolution of the leisure society' and this was followed by a similar link made by Neil Ravenscroft and Paul Gilchrist. human nature improves slowly. In every age. 81). it would be preferable to improve the income of workers and hence their material standard of living rather than reduce working hours: . UTS. 1890/1961: 720). and in every rank of society. however. But on the other hand it is only through freedom to use leisure as they will. those who have known how to work well.
But emulation of conspicuous consumption remains. as increasing numbers of women have entered the paid workforce. sought to emulate. Leisure time for the masses has. that is as wealthy and not engaged in labour. . the point is presently reached where the duties of vicarious leisure and consumption devolve upon the wife alone. of course.. and even the working class. The basis on which good repute in any highly organized industrial community ultimately rests is pecuniary strength: the means of showing pecuniary strength. in order that his wife may in due form render for him that degree of vicarious leisure which the common sense of the time demands. One would think that a 'leisure society' would have arrived if the middle and working classes were successful in emulating the leisure class in terms of conspicuous leisure. but it was not a trend addressed by Veblen. 1899/1970: 68-70) Thus conspicuous leisure fades as we move down the social scale. This class was characterised by 'conspicuous' leisure and consumption (ostentatious display of both non-work status and material wealth) and 'vicarious' leisure and consumption (conspicuous leisure and consumption by the wives. the primary fact – the conspicuous leisure of the master of the household – disappears at a relatively high point. J..Veblen's 'leisure class'. as most of the wealthy élite derive their wealth from various forms of highly paid employment (business. as we descend the social scale. (Veblen. the conspicuous consumption of goods remains and is carried on by the wife and children.. the leisure class in the strict sense as defined by Veblen. It is a fact of common observance that in this lower middle class there is no pretense of leisure on the part of the head of the household. In descending the social scale in any modern industrial community. What Veblen was describing then. But this was not fully possible. A.. even ostensible. But the middle class wife still carries on the business of vicarious leisure. this point is at present found among the lower middle class. It is by no means an uncommon spectacle to find a man applying himself to work with the utmost assiduity. increased since the end of the nineteenth century when Veblen was writing. Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society. The requirement of vicarious consumption at the hands of the wife continues in force even at a lower point in the pecuniary scale than the requirement of vicarious leisure. 2009 10 . Through force of circumstance it has fallen into disuse.. and so of gaining or retaining a good name.. Veblen's model of middle class vicarious leisure/consumption has become largely obsolete.. . are leisure and a conspicuous consumption of goods. for the good name of the household and its master. as in the case of the ordinary business man of today. Furthermore. children and servants of wealthy men)and which established 'pecuniary canons of taste' which the middle classes... was not the beginnings of a 'leisure society' but of a 'consumer society'. and in the lower strata in which the two methods are employed.. [However] This vicarious consumption practiced by the household of the middle and lower classes can not be counted as a direct expression of the leisure-class scheme of life. where any degree of leisure. has become impracticable for the wife. Lower still. UTS. and it was partly this which gave rise to discussion of a leisure society in the 1920s and '30s. . In contemporary society. because the head of household at least was required to engage in paid work for a living: . both of these methods are in vogue as far down the scale as it remains possible.. The head of the middle-class household has been reduced by economic circumstances to turn his hand to gaining a livelihood by occupations which often partake largely of the characters of industry. . both offices are in great part delegated to the wife and children of the household.. as it evolved in developed industrial capitalist societies of the late nineteenth century. since the household of this pecuniary grade does not belong within the leisure class. has almost disappeared. . entertainment. It is rather that the leisure-class scheme of life here comes to an expression at the second remove. sport). was a wealthy élite. even for the middle class. In the communities of the Western culture. Accordingly.
society at large and even. Examples include the following. however. However. 2009 11 . depending on how the time was used. Susan Currell notes that. (Currell. the meaning of leisure to American society changed dramatically from that of the 1920s and resulted in thousands of books and articles published in the mass media about a new 'problem of leisure'. The leisure society concept in the 1920s and '30s Introduction: the problem of leisure The idea that increasing automation and the consequent increase in labour productivity would reduce the demand for labour in the economy seems to have risen to prominence in the 1920s and '30s. that the depression was due to the failure to manage demand in the economy and could therefore be overcome by increasing government expenditure. In Australia during this period unemployment reached 23%. Thus the 'problem of leisure' became linked in part to the problem of unemployment. Comments summarised below were made against the background of the Great Depression. But a number of commentators pointed out that. employers. Judging from the amount of literature produced on leisure – including some bestsellers of the period – the 'problem of leisure' was a central cultural issue of depression America. Currell (2005: 33. UTS. Interest and Money. and leisure became a battleground for widespread ambivalence about technology. which had been sought-after and welcomed by workers.. which was being implemented at the time to combat the effects of the depression. in the end. The experience of the 1930s was suggesting that technological change could result in increased levels of unemployment. From the arrival of massive unemployment in the 1930s. The debate. developed in his General Theory of Employment. in the United States. economic change. possibly reflecting Roosevelt's New Deal.. while increased leisure time for the masses could be seen as a boon it could also be seen as a 'problem'. That this could result in reductions in working hours had been demonstrated with the institution of the 8-hour working day. the argument of economist John Maynard Keynes. took on a new cultural significance with the onset of the Depression. Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society. as well as a domain in which older ideas about individuality and democracy could be mediated or challenged. with limited leisure time for most. their representatives. it was believed that many were ill-equipped to make 'good' use of extended periods of leisure. often with capital letters. A. revealed wider concerns about America during this time. referred to below. date from before the publication of his general theory in 1936. his comments on 'future economic possibilities for our grandchildren'. social change. J. But by the end of the decade. This in turn resulted in increased leisure time for workers. had become widely accepted. 205: n32) indicates that the term was in common use in the United States in the 1930s and Hunnicutt (1988: 351-58) lists numerous references from the period.4. Given that Western industrial culture had hitherto been workorientated. triggered by the Wall Street crash of 1929. and new social habits. Many saw the high levels of unemployment as the inevitable consequence of a speed-up in the process of automation creating a structural reduction in the demand for labour. a common term in use at the time was 'the New Leisure'. leisure: . 2005: 3) The New Leisure In addition to 'the problem of leisure'.
It had achieved both leisure and the means to enjoy it. Science and the machine had reshaped traditional patterns into hundreds of new forms. and the same rationale is given to justify its use. truck-drivers – found countless pleasures and amusements readily available that had once been restricted to the privileged few. leaving that to the second edition of the book. although the actual text under the heading refers not to the New Leisure but to the problem of leisure. devote a whole chapter of their 1936 textbook to 'The New Leisure'. commissioned by the National Recreation Association (Lies. the term 'New Leisure' is still used. especially the new forms of recreation. mill-hands. published in 1958. It was overwhelming. office boys. • • • • • The final chapter of Foster Dulles' 1965 History of Recreation: America Learns to Play is entitled 'The New Leisure' Although there is no formal definition. UTS. The democracy had come into its recreational heritage. entitled The New Leisure Challenges the Schools. In Spectatoritis (1932 – see below) Jay Nash uses the term 'new leisure' in the sense of newly acquired additional leisure time. Working men and working women – factory operatives. should be used differently from the more limited amounts of leisure time available in the past. subway guards. In the third edition of the book. refers to reduced working hours and increased leisure time. some 22 years after the first edition. Neumeyer and Neumeyer. (Neumeyer and Neumeyer. movie-going and the use of the automobile for leisure. but examples of 'new' leisure activities are not given: the 1920s as an era of 'New Leisure' is dismissed in a single sentence as a period when 'considerable gains' were made in 'the amount of spare time and in the provision of commercial and communal forms of recreation for the masses' (Neumeyer and Neumeyer. which was not published until 1949: Several reasons may be given for using the expression 'the new leisure'. but also a great deal had been gained. storekeepers. plumbers.• A 1933 report. but does not define the 'New Leisure' used in its title. 1965: 397) A. garment workers. Something had undoubtedly been lost. 1933). Lundberg et al. 1949: 15) The 'new uses of free time' were all the activities which had become newly available to the masses since the 1920s. and (2) the new uses of free time. The chief ones are: (1) the widespread extension of leisure and the rapidity with which it has developed. In 1933 Spencer Miller (see below) saw the move for reduction of working hours in the United States as heralding a 'new society' based on the 'new leisure'. Even though they might not always have used this leisure to the best advantage. the American people had learned to play. (1934: 4). waitresses. farm-hands. the discretionary income. 1958: 9). but they fail to define the term. including radio listening. or the recreational choices of the American people in midtwentieth-century. (Dulles. he argues. 2009 12 . in their classic study of suburban leisure. used the heading 'The New Leisure' in their introductory overview of the quantity and quality of leisure in 1930s America. stenographers. J. Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society. bank clerks. which. the final paragraph of the book seems to capture the concept: The people of no other country and no other age had ever had anything like the leisure.
– Kaplan (1960) devotes the final chapter of Leisure in America to 'the new leisure' (see Kaplan entry below. With some prescient musings and others sadly mistaken. with standardisation and quantity production and dehumanization [= automation] in so many departments of life. J.. and the response must be general or social. apparently meaning the leisure time newly gained by American workers in the 1950s. I say. The second age/era is historical. literature. USA: Ages of Leisure Alfred Lloyd discusses three 'ages'. then is civilization entering upon an adventure for romantic characters. The first seems to use age in a biological sense. (Lloyd. he considers the new era as follows: . while some members of the wealthy leisured classes have 'spent their time idly and wastefully'. with the at least possible passing of militarism. it must not be confined to a few. leisure . unless from higher standards of living or from increases in population the demand for production should actually keep pace with increased efficiency. since it refers to the leisure associated with youth.. age/era. 1922: 172) He notes that. 2009 13 . is a pressing problem of the day at least as urgent as that of work. but associates it with an unquantified reduction in work-time among industrial workers. which is the one that concerns us here. referring to ancient Greek and other civilisations where leisure for some was built on the slavery of others. 'A new look at the New Leisure'. UTS. with – for some so insist – relatively less need of occupational training.• Other authors prolonged the use of the term in the 1950s and '60s: – Ernst included a chapter on 'Our new leisure and its good uses' in his book Utopia (Ernst.. with the fine arts as well as the practical arts functioning vicariously in machinery. sometimes 'eras' of leisure. the people at large taking part.. in the past. for need of wisdom and imagination and courage far exceeding anything in the past. is to have more spare time per capita than ever before in history and is to have this with all the opportunities and with all the dangers. . Civilization must look to her defenses even while she wakens to new ideals and purposes. is that based on the automation of industry. 1922: Alfred H. 1955: 14-33). The third. despite the above note of caution. Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society.. if the new leisure in amount and importance be what it has appeared to be and if. (Lloyd. this problem of leisure. With shorter hours and shorter weeks and increasing mechanical efficiency. A. Then it must be faced. with greater wealth and presumably too more general wealth. Lloyd. – Blakelock's 1960 paper. so it would appear. – Russell Lynes (1958: 347) refers to 'the new leisure'. offers no definition of 'the New Leisure'. – Denney (1959: 48) uses the term in a similar way to Lynes. 1922: 171) Alfred Marshall quoted above and a number of commentators referred to below are pessimistic about the possibility that the masses could make positive use of significantly increased leisure time but. Lloyd is apprehensive but optimistic: Of one thing only do I feel confidant: The call is for a new culture made possible by the new leisure. the mingled danger and opportunity of it be at all in proportion. Indeed it would seem as if man were being brought to a testing the like of which he has not even distantly approached before. as might be inferred. it is this class that has supported the development of art. Man. must be faced squarely..
I am still at a loss to say. provision always being made A. What the new forms may be or how education.? (p. and eating. and persuades the workers in Coketown that they have more in common with the classes that exploit them than they have in common with other groups within a more limited community. Mumford states: The chief concern of the national utopia is the support of the central government. by analogy from the past. By stressing the importance of these concerns. what of the third age of leisure . drinking. (Mumford. 177). The Story of Utopias. (p. Coketown embodies the phenomenon of the industrial town. .. The titles to land which was historically obtained for the most part through force and fraud is the economic foundation of the Country House existence. UTS. Wherefore. It would seem that this reconciliation of Coketown and the Country House is little less than miraculous. and often artificially delineated. even as an ideal. a culture in which: . . Wells – involving utopian ideas which are 'filtered through an individual mind' and 'grew out of a certain age and tradition of thought'. Regarding the relatively recently evolved. surprising and adventurous. National State and its associated utopia. is expected to produce its own. for the government is the guardian of territory and privilege... [in the rules of their order] . with a factory or mill as its centre and raison d'être: a dystopia for many but utopian in its 'supreme esthetic achievement – the Self-Made Man' (p. 2009 14 . Lewis Mumford reviews utopian literature from Plato's Republic to the works of William Morris and H. everyone does nothing but follow his free will and pleasure. and to increase its limits. USA: Utopia/Technics and Civilization In his 1922 book. challenging establishment. but it is the Country House which concerns us here. (p. and constantly playing up the dangers of rivalry from other national utopias. evolution. there is but one clause to be observed: 'Do as you please'... He contrasts this with 'collective utopias or social myths' which 'have been partly expressed in a hundred works and never perhaps fully expressed in one' (Mumford.science and philosophy. 1922) 1922: Lewis Mumford.. awakening the very life it surprises (p.. has bred historic adventure.. He outlines three such collective utopias of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. 1922/2008: 158) Coketown represents industrial work. enabled by industry. In order to keep the artisans and labourers who surround the Country House at their work.. the people at large may be brought to meet the new culture to their benefit instead of to their harm. or culture.. when possible..... because of its focus on the conspicuous leisure and conspicuous consumption of the leisure class. rising out of bed whenever he thinks good.. under the care of a tactful hostess. The Country House and the elites with their distinctive lifestyles which it is created to accommodate is a physical and social embodiment of Veblen's leisure class. 176) . the State builds a bridge between the Country House and Coketown. (Lloyd. which he names: Coketown. 140) . it own mutation of human values. seeking a new medium. 150). The principal business of that government is to keep the territory properly defined.. J. serves the inevitable future. Culture. G. A present culture. and labouring when he has a mind to it.. the new leisure of our era must be bringing its own specific culture. 174) . in the Country House possession is based upon privilege and not upon paid work. new. so as to make the taxable area larger. culture: The past shows that with leisure has come culture.. Mumford notes the recurrence of the 'Country House culture' in literature. it is necessary to keep them from having access to the land on their own account. Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society. of course a new education. The new leisure. 1922/2008: 135). the Country House and the National State.
or at best. 1934) A. it is responsible. 141) . If we are to achieve a purposive and cultivated use of the enormous energies now happily at our disposal. no working ideal for machine production can be based solely on the gospel of work: still less can it be based upon an uncritical belief in constantly raising the quantitative standard of consumption. we must examine in detail the processes that lead up to the final state of leisure. it might be noted that David Selwyn (1999) offers an applied analysis of the Country House culture in his Jane Austen and Leisure. 279) . and the underlying identity is plain enough. in fact. That is. and called for. Since this ideal cannot be realized in the actual world . and work itself will become a kind of game. more than ever it attempts to be self-sufficient within the limits of suburbia.. free activity. More than ever the Country House today tries to make up by an abundance of physical goods for all that has been lost through its divorce from the underlying community. for the reason that it is completely at odds with man's biological inheritance. (p. a leisure society arising from automation: When automatism becomes general and the benefits of mechanization are socialized. The Country House ideal is that of a completely functionless existence. the phonograph.. 147) (Mumford. mecahnical enjoyment. the ideal goal of a completely mechanized and automatized system of power production: the elimination of work: the universal achievement of leisure.. Mumford predicted. (p.. J.. I believe.that the usufruct of the land should go to the owner and not to the worker. 2009 15 . As an aside. While the Country House was in the beginning an aristocratic institution. Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society. like the South Seas: the ritual of leisure will replace the ritual of work. men will be back once more in the Edenlike state in which they have existed in regions of natural increment. It is because of the lapse and mis-management of these processes that we have not reached the desirable end. creation. 1922/1980) Mumford argues that the Country House culture had an influence beyond the large houses and estates which the term implies. it is necessary in the Country House utopia to fill in by play and sport and otherwise desirable vacuity (p. He observes: . 379) (Mumford. it has penetrated now to every stratum of society. as a child's playing with a doll is a preparation for motherhood. 141-2). In his 1934 volume. The Country House standards of consumption are responsible for our Acquisitive Society. and the radiotelephone have only served to increase this self-sufficiency. It does not matter very much whether the Country House is an estate on Long island or a cottage in Montclair. whether it is a house in Golder's Green or a family manor in Devonshire: these are essentially affairs of scale. an existence in which all the functions that properly belong to a civilized man shall be carried on by functionaries. (p. I know no other pattern which has impose its standards and its practices with such complete success upon the greater part of European civilization. Such activities as remain in the Country House – the pursuit of games for instance – rest upon imitating in play activities which once had a vital use or prepared for some vital function. and I need not show at length how these instrumentalities have deepened the elements of acquisitiveness and passive. The automobile. and although we may not immediately see the connection. Technics and Civilization.. (p.. for the particular . UTS.. This emphasis on passive ownership points to the fact that in the Country House there is no active communion between the people and their environment. possibly 'ethos'] of the Country House prevails even when quarters are taken up in the midst of the metropolis. The idolum [associated inner 'world of ideas'. (Mumford. 1922/2008) These comments preceded the arrival of the McMansion by three quarters of a century. direction which industrial society has taken.
The mechanistic Utopian is unable to value these things: he sees in his dreams a world where goods are produced more and more easily. we suddenly find ourselves with an amount of leisure on our hands beyond the wildest dreams of our fathers and have made no provision for the use of it.While there is an indication in this final remark that transition to a leisure society would present challenges. presumably they are to sleep till the time for work comes round again . presented in his 1926 book The Threat of Leisure. 66) . 1923: 50) 1926: George Cutten. but the business men have discovered it. we have taught men how to obtain leisure but not how to use it. (Russell and Russell. Mumford's outlook is basically more optimistic about the prospect of such a society than many of the commentators of the time. While philanthropic agencies have helped somewhat.. it should be the remaining hours that would be regarded as important – hours which could be devoted to enjoyment of art or study. if. What men are to do with leisure he neither knows nor cares. 2009 16 .. . and distributed with impartial justice to workers too tired and bored to know how to enjoy them. (p. USA: The Threat of Leisure George Cutten's thesis. and the salvation of our civilization depends upon whether we can teach them the latter.... in the creation and contemplation of beauty and in the scientific understanding of the world. Commercial agencies have supplied popular needs which other agencies have not. 1923: Bertrand Russell.. In most cases recreation must be sought elsewhere. for America has turned its leisure over to commerce to be exploited for profit. to affection and woodland and sunshine in green fields. For this reason the method of spending leisure. discuss the nature of a successfully achieved leisure society or link it to his earlier discussions of the Country House.. but in connection with them have developed serious public evils. UK: In Praise of Idleness In a 1923 book entitled The Prospects of Industrial Civilization and a 1935 essay entitled 'In Praise of Idleness'. or the repressive and negative attitude of the Puritan. Man's true life does not consist in the business of filling his belly and clothing his body. we know what to teach. He does not.. (p.. 1926) The threat of leisure is a moral one brought about by commercialization: . however. so far as amusements are concerned. Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society. J. indeed. was that. 87) (Cutten. or benefits of the people. the general attitude of the American people has either been total indifference to the problem. UTS. (pp.. for Americans: The somewhat sudden acquisition of leisure has found us unprepared for the correct use of so much spare time. and business enterprise has taken advantage of these conditions. The problem before us in the twentieth century is the proper utilization of our leisure.. we could all have enough. mathematician and philosopher Bertrand Russell contended that all material needs of society could be produced if everyone worked just four hours a day. 69-70) . But he argued that this was unlikely to happen because industrial society placed means above ends: If every man and woman worked for four hours a day at necessary work. needs. but in art and thought and love. is dictated by business interests rather than the desires. Recent industrial development has created conditions in modern cities which make them too congested and too much lacking in facilities to permit people to enjoy their leisure in their own homes. we have taught men how to make money but not how to spend it. The people generally may not have recognised the fact of leisure. We A.
for the latter may be even more fatal. . UK: Economic Possibilities for our Grandchildren Paradoxically. which indicated how the worst excesses of the Great Depression might have been avoided. it was the economic theories of John Maynard Keynes. by good use of leisure we can here understand not only use of leisure in which the individual avoids psychological and physical harm. so far as it is subject to observation. 1926) The result of our unlimited. and uncontrolled leisure is the gravest danger to which any nation was ever exposed. The keynote of crimelessness may not necessarily be more work. But in his 1931 essay 'Economic Possibilities for our Grandchildren'. (p. but one in which – while satisfying himself – he incidentally 'improves' himself: by enriching memory and imagination. or by developing physical strength and skill. enervating. Therefore it can be said that a problem of the use of leisure results immediately where there is well-developed commercial recreation. 72) (Cutten. The fact that such censorship is deemed necessary shows the danger of commercializing public amusements. Clearly the problem of the use of leisure arises when it becomes apparent that for one reason or another a people or a class tends not to put its leisure to good use. but it is surely a better directed use of time than now obtains in the leisure of our youth..should be able to endure the fact that amusements have been commercial-ized and that the wealth of monarchs is lavished upon the yearly salaries of some of the entertainers. published in his 1936 General Theory of Employment. if the amusements were such as should be provided. 'Bad' use of leisure. usually involves the more widespread and specious forms of commercial recreation. and consequently the most harmful. J. unled. The first chapter is entitled. We face a greater danger in underwork – or at least underemployment. which some states maintain. His predictions were predicated on the assumption of 'no important wars and no important increase in population'. is able to eliminate only the grossest examples of moral danger. The censorship over certain amusements. Wherever there is elaborate development of commercial recreation it becomes evident that very few people who can afford to buy their leisure occupation will continue to be content with the simpler forms of unorganised recreation. a problem.. repression alone will not solve the problem. are frequently permitted to appeal to the people. UTS. and deteriorating. 2009 17 . the worst is that they result in moral and intellectual degradation. In many cases they are cheap. 'The Leisure Problem – General Observations'. 1926: 96) 1928: Herbert May and Dorothy Petgen. USA: Leisure and Its Use May and Petgen's Leisure and Its Use is a report of a study commissioned by the Playground and Recreation Association of America to investigate 'leisure time activities in the principal countries of Europe'. but A. 1928: 5-6) 1931: John Maynard Keynes. Interest and Money. Thus leisure is seen. The best that can be said of some of them is that they are neutral in effect. unorganized. while the subtly suggestive. Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society. we must secure a proper outlet. (Cutten.. first and foremost. (May and Petgen.. youthful energy bottled up is dangerous. This is the great threat of leisure which we may now see: the fruition of such conditions in the lack of self-restraint as evidenced by the waves of crime with which we are deluged. The chapter includes the following observations: . he seemed to embrace the idea of a permanent potential labour surplus when discussing the reduction in working hours which technology could bring. Our laws and national propaganda have been directed against overwork of people in general and of certain classes in particular.
he declared that the basic economic problem of humankind – that is. 372) (Keynes. the outlook is very depressing! . In 2008 a volume of essays. It will be those people. and cultivate into a fuller perfection. J. 2009 18 . with no special talents.. We shall honour those who can teach us how to pluck the hour and the day virtuously and well. to live wisely and agreeably and well (p. bred into him for countless generations. the delightful people who are capable of taking direct enjoyment in things. provide a twenty-first century evaluation of Keynes's essay. neither do they spin. there is no country and no people.. make what work there is still to be done to be as widely shared as possible. Three-hour shifts or a fifteen hour week may put off the problem for a great while. 368) (Keynes. 1932) However. Keynes was not optimistic about the possibility of achieving such an end. Veblen did not explore the issue of declining working hours.. To judge from the behaviour and the achievements of the wealthy classes today in any quarter of the world.. Because people would feel the need to do some work to 'be contented'... how to occupy the leisure which science and compound will have won for him. It is a fearful problem for the ordinary person. was published to celebrate the 75 anniversary of the publication of Keynes's esay. For we have been trained too long to strive and not to enjoy. 368) . yet I think with dread of the readjustments of the habits and instincts of the ordinary man. so it seems to me – those who have an independent income but no associations or duties or ties – to solve the problem which has been set to them. his permanent problem – how to use his freedom from pressing economic cares. 1932: 369) The 'old Adam' is a reference to the biblical curse on Adam: 'in the sweat of your brow shalt though eat bread'.. who will be able to enjoy the abundance when it comes (p. 367) . For three hours a day is quite enough to satisfy the old Adam in most of us! (Keynes. th A.. edited by Pecchi and Piga (2008). UTS. (p. the lilies of the field who toil not. On this basis.. who can look forward to the age of leisure and abundance without dread. to occupy himself . which he may be asked to discard within a few decades (p.even though these assumptions have not been met. as noted above. If the economic problem is solved mankind will be deprived of its traditional purpose. (p. To those who sweat for their daily bread leisure is a longed-for sweet – until they get it . This would open up the possibility of what might be seen as a 'leisure society' vision of the future: Thus for the first time since his creation man will be faced with his real. material subsistence – would be solved. the art of life itself and do not sell themselves for the means of life. his hypothetical scenario of a eight-fold increase in real per capita incomes over 100 years is on track. those walk most truly in the paths of virtue and sane wisdom who take least thought for the morrow.... We shall once more value ends above means and prefer the good to the useful. For they have most of them failed disastrously. 1932) The reference to the 'wealthy classes' recalls Veblen's 'leisure class' but. who can keep alive.. it would be necessary to: . I think. 366) . Will this be a benefit? If one believes at all in the real values of life the prospect at least opens up the possibility of benefit. Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society..
our society may have as bad indigestion as in 1931. three hours will be enough.. 'time for creative arts'. his re-creation – recuperation.1932: C. Jay Nash presents a critique of the tendency of Americans of the 1930s to devote their increasing leisure time to passive leisure activity rather than to what he terms 'creative arts'. if everyone worked. A. it is worth while in our dangerous. 1932: 234) 1932: Jay B. given leisure. or a time for pure choice.. Furnas. Many of the honored ideals must change. used purely in the sense of recuperation and restoration. USA: The Two-hour Working Day The fact that Furnas was a professor of chemical engineering at Yale University and was therefore exploring an area outside his central field of expertise possibly explains the light-hearted. which should be devoted to creative arts. If liberal education does nothing more than render people harmless. delivery of his thesis on the two-hour working day. mobile age. It has been estimated that the depredations of the average crook cost the public one-hundred-sixty times as much as is expended upon the education of the average boy or girl. in the machine-cluttered years to come. Nash. Hard work will becomes less of a virtue and idleness will become less obnoxious.. man will turn into a listener. Then. what to do? How to keep out of trouble? What's the use anyway? Someone will have to answer these questions. and the hobby and the avocation will absorb most of your energies. With the reduction of working hours.. Without suitable education people would be liable to spend their increased leisure time in anti-social activity: If a person is going to loaf. a watcher. and often humorous. . Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society. save what might e called avocation. The social problems arising from such an age of leisure will be infinite. The job which supports you will become a rather insignificant chore. perhaps. because you and I and all our friends and their friends would welcome the chance to cut life's drudgeries to a minimum. Even two hours may be too many. but the shortened day is physically possible.. . This throws a large part of time into the third part. The only clear solution to the question is seen as being provided by liberal education preparing people for a future of leisure and this is explored in a chapter entitled 'The Pursuit of Happiness'. then two. and his time for creative arts – avocation or time to express his voluntary wants. (Furnas. which is new. a time for creation. J. less time will be needed for re-creation. and for which we have no symbol in the English language. or . and I nominate the educational system. The question facing civilization is: What will man do with this machine-formed time? .. I use that as a first approximation of the ultimate length of the average working day. UTS. I think they are still wrong.man's time mut be considered in terms of three parts: his work – vocation.. USA: Spectatoritis In Spectatoritis. C. and it will come eventually. He will attempt to utilize this new leisure. (Furnas. it pays the state a great deal better to put five thousand dollars into his education and have him loaf harmlessly than it does to spend one hundred dollars on him initially and then have him loaf viciously. The basic premise is outlined quite briefly: The Socialists have long said that four hours of labor per day person would be sufficient. 2009 19 . There are glaring indications on all sides that. 1932: 13-14) . but they soon will be right. When this two-hour day gets here.
If we stand. while the term 'leisure society' is not used. J. the problems of leisure are in no way secondary or subsidiary to other aspects of social life now much in the foreground of public attention. from occupying a substantial part of their working hours in certain traditional or conventional ways that have hitherto obtained. the foundation of which is the 'new leisure'.. USA: Labor and the Challenge of the New Leisure Spencer Miller's 1933 article in the Harvard Business Review was written against the background of a bill for 30-hour working week in the process of passing through Congress (it was passed but never implemented). (Miller. is the problem before us. 2009 20 . upon the threshold of a new age. Such a reconstructed objective must inevitably include provisions for the wider leisure-time activities of citizens. Miller comes very close in speaking of a 'new society'. Lundberg et al. is predicated on the observation that 'the central problem now before us . 1933: 465) Thus. He notes that the changes will require a transformation in attitudes towards the relative importance of work and leisure: Leisure gives us something of a clue for exchanging our old objectives for new. [is] . is to elevate human life. UTS... it will be necessary to reconstruct not only our objective but also our attitude towards that objective.in body recuperation.. as I firmly believe we do.. If that be true. Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society. whether by the wealthy or by the poor.. 1933: 467) 1934: George A.. (Lundberg et al. Toward that concept of the State. the author was more concerned with 'the increase in leisure which is represented by the reduction in working hours'. That is certainly one of the high aims of education. to an increasing degree. I believ we move. will. 1923: 8-9) 1933: Spencer Miller. not as an end in themselves but as a means toward the cultivation of those qualities which are necessary part of the new society.. the new leisure is the spiritual frontier which calls for a discipline of the spirit as far-reaching and as penetrating as did the conquest of the physical frontier. be relieved and indeed prevented. (Nash. (Miller. While the 30-hours bill was enacted to address problems of unemployment. under any given conditions. He will rationalize that he needs rest – a let-down far beyond his actual requirement.. as Aristotle defined it. . From this point of view. Consideration of the ways and means of the profitable spending of this new increment of time. The depression was seen as signalling 'revolutionary changes in our social order'. The key to coping with the consequent social change lies in public education: The purpose of the State. the prospect of long hours of leisure for the masses of men' who: . not only for the problems of life's work. Helping the achievement of that goal is the challenge of the new leisure to labor and to the community at large. A. It will become a part of the foundations of the new society. I submit that the chief function of this state should be the education of its citizens. the leisure State if you will. USA: Leisure: a Suburban Study The 1930s study of leisure in an American suburb by Lundberg et al. but of life's leisure as well. 1934: 10).
From sixteen hours a day to twelve hours to eight. and hours of labor have been steadily decreasing.. the greater the need to supply a purposeful goal somewhere else. active participation in sport and hobbies and appreciation of the arts. It would be a rash prophet who denies the possibility that this generation may live to see a two-hour day. 244) (Pack. the steady development of more and still more machines relentlessly raised the sum total of production even higher. must furnish a prime purpose of existence itself. UTS. 1934: 67) Pack devotes a series of chapters to 'The New Leisure and . five.. (p. (Lundberg et al.. which has for a million years been the principal preoccupation of the mind and body of man.. but the activities discussed are not new leisure forms but a number of traditional activities. civilization as we now understand it is inevitably doomed. and the end not in sight. He argued that for many people leisure activities: . 240) . six.They do not use the term 'leisure society' but. 2009 21 . Machine-tending labor gives no purpose to life. do discuss the notion of the 'new leisure': Altogether we confront an age when working for the means of livelihood. while giving a fair modicum of attention and service to the demands of his livelihood. In a sweeping analysis. 1934: 363) 1934: Arthur Newton Pack.. according to the dictates of self-expression.Leisure is an indispensable part of both economic and social existence – it is the greatest of all challenges to the leaders of civilization. It is the only excuse for civilization. such as engagement with nature. and the more monotonous and repetitive the task. This is summed up in the following: Leisure is the opportunity for individualism – the opportunity to live. 1934: 11) A number of the later commentators referred to below argued that leisure cannot compensate for loss of meaning in the boring and alienating work brought about by automation. USA: The Challenge of Leisure Writing at the height of the Great Depression. but in the world of leisure he may truly live. sinister circle. do and make. creative outlet in his time of leisure. will make his real life and find his real satisfaction outside the work itself. And although such labor will not and cannot create love for the mechanical tasks of life. commercial trends of the New Leisure.. Arthur Newton Pack surveyed the period of industrialisation and the effects of automation on the demand for labour. and the guardian of the machine. The more a man's working hours become a mere tending of machines.. (Pack. In the world of production alone man exists in a vicious. Thus his preferred approach can be seen as a counter to the passive. But this is not a problem for Pack. and unless the manifest advantages of leisure outweigh the ills of a machine age. the greater his need for some realistic. is about to be relegated to a minor charge upon his time and activity: it its place we have leisure. it can be compensated for. (Pack..'. stretching from the height of the industrial revolution and into the future. in a frantic attempt to hold the balance static. Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society. eight to seven. 1934) A. It is in leisure that civilization will find its justification. as noted above. he states: . (p. J. The emergence of the new leisure constitutes a major disturbance in the equilibrium of the organism with its environment.
They have one hope. And hence the new task for leisure. because those who have just learned the lesson in the cinema. leaves them unsatisfied: it determines decisively the shallowness. 2009 22 . J.. It is a vicious circle. But their status. and men will be driven to kill one another in order to kill time. are not able to fill the void. filling the void which industrialism has entailed. UK: The Problem of Leisure Henry Durant's thesis. [therefore] . particularly via movies and the popular press of the time. which means that while their leisure should be a catharsis. although the seriousness of his pessimism is not clear: … the sheer boredom of life made unendurable by wasted energies. To individuals it indicates the difficulties which they experience in attempting to wrest from life a meaning and purpose. leisure becomes the ultimate goal. E. unemployment is a problem. but was pessimistic about the consequences. UK: Diogenes – or the Future of Leisure C. and even family. dominated by the life of the idle rich or screen celebrities (nothing much changes!) is seen as shallow. unproductive life are presented. It is something which those who are concerned to maintain the social order are gravely anxious about. That is to say. Joad envisaged a society in which material goods would be produced in four or five hours work per day. completed by the 'engineers of A. But their leisure is conditioned by the same society which conditions their work. leisure has become an effort to secure the meaning and justification of life itself. outlined in his 1938 book The Problem of Leisure. lacking contact with the world of things and the world of men. and for the public which watches. the incomprehensibility of their lives. have to return to the factory and the office. Leisure as produced by the showman. Leisure is not merely a problem for the individual – it is a problem for society. 1935: 70) 1938: Henry Durant. The work seems more dreary after the leisure hour. servitude to pleasure and craving for amusement which grows ever more difficult to satisfy. no religious and no rational principle has appointed them to their given place. (Joad. fixed by the work they do. it must also complete the industrial training of turning actors into spectators. automated work no longer provides workers with the rationale for their existence. Joad.... and the leisure hour is no climax to their work. stands a lonely figure surrounded by his fellows. E. The society they live in becomes ever more rigid. is that industrialised.. and religion.1935: C. just as. but in terms of the hours spent away from the stool. But it is unobtainable. 1938: 26-27) Thus leisure has a twofold aspect. the amusements caterer. means that it does not prove adequate to its task of reconciling people to their lot. In stead of being relaxation. (Durant. What must now suffice to link him with society? The answer is the 'machinery of amusement'. UTS. must act as the substitute. the fresh. Hence the 'machinery of amusement'. M. Hence. their spare time. for instance. outstanding role it must play. M. the film magnate. 1938: 17-18) However. images and goals which the 'machinery of amusement' offers. the values. leisure is unable to do this. As a result. . Living is no longer to be interpreted in terms of labour.. It should provide the reason for their existence and the satisfaction they are seeking. Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society. Moreover. So the commercial leisure offered to and pursued by the masses fails to fulfil its role: Failure to satisfy means that leisure fails to fulfil the function assigned to it. community. visualized day-dreams of a fully leisured. the machine. and the plough. unattainable and unsatisfying. will lead to war. They live an unmotivated social life. the worker: . (Durant.
he makes no mention of Bertrand Russell's similar 1923 proposal for a four-hour working day.) 1939: Roger Payne. Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society. concluding that in this way the average individual employed would be required to work for the equivalent of only one day a week. UTS. J. While he provides extensive references to appropriate literature. which began this section on the 1920s and '30s. 2009 23 . an expanded version of the pamphlet. USA: Why Work? The Coming 'Age of Leisure and Plenty' Roger Payne. outlines ideas for simpler living. improving productivity in industry (to reduce the demand for labour) and increasing the labour participation rate. (Durant. Concerned with their financial profit. they seize upon the already blunted tastes of their patrons and proceed further to debase them. Payne's book does not appear to have been published by a mainstream publisher and it is not known whether his notion of an 'Age of Leisure and Plenty' attracted much attention or played any significant role in promulgating the 'leisure society' idea to the community at large. elimination of waste. A. 1938: 30-31. The book. known as the 'Hobo Philosopher'.amusement'. spent twenty years in the 1920s and '30s travelling on foot throughout North America distributing a pamphlet promoting a philosophy of simple living and minimisation of working time.
The place of the leisure society idea in this process. how it was conceived and theorised. 1975: 4). however. UTS. During the first half of the twentieth century weekly working hours had fallen from around 70 to 40-45 and there was the beginning of paid annual holidays. • A. a number of contemporary commentators have suggested that it was a key part of the early leisure studies project. there have been positive indications that the current crisis will ease in the years ahead. stated that' The urgent question of the twentieth century. not explicitly discussed in subsequent chapters. is not What can I do? but Who can I be?' (Knapp. plush motels. five day working week and paid annual holidays of two weeks or more became established and commentators. Robert Bendiner suggested that a similar interest in popular and business media may have existed in the 1950s: From the spate of literature on the coming Era of Leisure it is hard to tell whether we are headed for an Elysium of culture that will put the ancient Greeks in the shade or for a hell of mass boredom modified by home carpentry. and enriched living is limitless' (Weiskopf . A Guide to Recreation and Leisure.Weiskopf was writing at the time of the early 1970s oil-price crises. The leisure society concept is. 2009 24 . Passing references • Orrin Knapp. almost universally. references to the idea of the leisure society could be an indicator of its acceptance in the field at the time. creative. in a 1969 book on the Collective Search for Identity. is complex and is discussed in a companion paper. Donald Weiskopf states: 'We stand at the threshold of a leisure-orientated society. the whole question of what was happening in the background to actual working hours in the Western industrial economies. the leisure society that this text will describe in the chapters ahead will depend on an abundance of energy and natural resources' (Weiskopf. However. By far the most enthusiastic prophets of the New Day are to be found in the world of trade and popular magazines. and what commentators knew about this. remarks: 'While a continued world fuel shortage could result in a major setback to the leisure industry. A number of such references have been identified and are summarised below. '60s and early '70s by rapid economic growth and prosperity and this was accompanied by a continuing reduction in working hours. Certainly. hi-fi. is therefore potentially important in understanding the origins of leisure studies. This is followed by summaries of individual substantive contributions. unquestioning. the evidence on which it was based and the degree of consensus surrounding it. The leisure society concept in the 1950s. As noted in Section 2. J. assumed that this trend would continue. 1975: 4). In the previous section we noted Susan Currell's observation that popular interest in leisure resulted in the publication of thousands of articles in newspapers and magazines in the 1920s and '30s. a nuclear age with unlimited possibilities for the enrichment of human life. but still optimistic. In the post-World War II period the 40-hour. Passing.5. In his 1975 textbook. 1957: 10) The period from the 1950s to the early 1970s can be seen as the period of birth of leisure studies as a formal field of academic study. (Bendiner. 1969: x). '60s and '70s The work shortages and high unemployment rates of the 1930s were replaced in the 1950s. and ping-pong. so he continues with the following cautious. Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society. the most skeptical in the ranks of the sociologists. in its looming age of leisure. The potential of recreation and leisure time services for satisfying.
is not directly with leisure but with the quality of work and the idea that ways might be found of making work meaningful. Who can doubt it. distributing consumption goods in great quantities.. France: The Anatomy of Work In Industrial Society. the need to find a new centre for human development in the hours thus freed. 1945/55: 155). through the social and economic organization in which techniques are integrated and oriented. 1986: 82). who suggested that the increased monotony of work should be compensated for by 'the shorter working day. his prime concern. published in French in 1945 and in English in 1955. which he believes will not be eliminated very soon. i. But these are technicians' abstractions which the actual evolution of capitalist societies since the beginning of this century has cruelly contradicted. 1945/1955: 38485) He returns to the topic in the conclusions to the book (p. in Work and Leisure in Christian Perspective. Its results may be as marvellous as its most enthusiastic supporters have imagined. will become all the more acute. In the earlier text he refers to research from the 1920s by Leon Walther. in the workshops' (Walther. In The Anatomy of Work Friedmann expresses scepticism regarding the prospect of a smooth transition to an automated economy: . (Friedmann. Automatism does not eliminate the problems forming the core of this book.. accusing 'scientists of goodwill' of 'giving up in despair of all hope of humanizing the semi-automatic tasks' in industry. when several years ago Americans alone spent 262 billion dollars on leisure? This is not to deny .. shortening the working day for all. however. While a key effect of this development is seen as the reduction in the demand for labour – possibly in the form of reduced working hours and greater leisure – his concern is mainly with the less physically burdensome but increasingly meaningless nature of industrial work and the consequent boredom and alienation of the worker.. reading. Later in the book he states: The theory of automation gives hope of the total disappearance of unpleasant work . But Friedmann rejects this approach. published in French in 1956 and in English translation in 1961. when in due course automation has eliminated manual work and has greatly reduced the hours of labour. can decide the degree to which this possibility may become actual. if possible. Complete automation is full of wonderful promises: freeing the worker from these subdivided tasks (in which he is half-absorbed by the machine). 2009 25 . 1945/1955: Georges Friedmann. man.e.. Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society. UTS. 391) where he refers to the view that workers might need to seek compensation for boring and meaningless work in 'culture and leisuretime activities' outside of work as 'disillusioned' and pessimistic. J. states: 'Our own century is surely the age of leisure.. should A. technology and the suggestions of the human factor which tend to control its application in industry bring only a magnificent possibility. from assembly-line labor henceforth assigned to mechanical appliances. increasing comfort. in the active use of leisure. that in our fast-paced society people have less leisure time than they want or need' (Ryken. but they may also contribute to man's downfall. and music. But here again. when it has deprived men of the essential element upon which their mental balance and the possibility of self-realization have been based (the role traditionally assigned to work).• Leland Ryken. Georges Friedmann explored the implications of increased automation in the workplace under capitalism. quoted in Friedmann. alone. and consequently the means for attaining dignity and culture. and in The Anatomy of Work. creating leisure for everybody.
thus approaching the 'press-button' ideal. have exceedingly harmful results? Can work be replaced in a psychological sense by 'non-work' and particularly 'free-time' activities? Can they assume the role it used to play in regard to the personality? Can the transference of the centre of personal activity and self-realization to leisure hours guarantee equal benefits. but his analysis of what the logic of industrial trends seems to be telling us.. will not have as its final result a further alienation of man's spirit' (p. as ethnographers rightly remind us. From this standpoint. or revolution. under capitalism. leisure cannot fulfill these roles since it is as controlled and alienated as work: One of the most alarming of these dangers [those arising from technical progress] seems to me to be the failure of human beings to participate in the environment which they can now control from outside by means of increasingly efficient.. and listens more or less absent-mindedly. our life being centred about 'play'. work. 159). (Friedmann. autonomous and widespread techniques. and replace it with 'communitarian socialism'. under the conditions of capitalism. capacities and aspirations. the physical and mental operations that the worker is required to perform are decreasing in number and becoming easier all the time. may not the reduction in the part played by it in human life. when its scope is sufficient and the personality can to some extent be involved in it. which are an essential part of man. He favours the third. in fitting him into his social environment. it has meant very different things for those performing it.. in fact. 'we must be extraordinarily naïve or blind. in his physical and mental health. UTS. in calling for the 'working masses' to 'transcend' the 'capitalist régime' with its 'fundamental vices'. confer comparable psychological advantages? What indeed will happen when men in growing numbers find themselves gradually deprived of 'work' in the traditional sense of the term? Will the active employment of leisure-time be a balancing factor in the whole of an individual's life and aid in the formation and development of his character? (Friedmann. he states: . of course. 1961: 152) The last sentence here is not Friedmann's own conclusion and recommendation.they occur in a world lacking just institutions. 1961: xv) Later in the book he seeks to explore the supposed logic of automation under capitalism: Owing to the advance of automatism. (Friedmann. 1962: 158) Friedmann argues that. This is the role it has always played in history in the most varied social and cultural surroundings. Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society. He is present. the progressive suppression of manual work by automatism. 2009 26 . . Needs and desires. we must look for new content and our interests and efforts must be fixed elsewhere. And this is true during work as during leisure.. and deprived of liberty and wisdom. Under a heading 'A Grave Problem'. J. (Friedmann. under which it might be possible to provide guidance to 'prevent A. although. has a fundamental part to play in the balance of individual. Since all labour is becoming increasingly easy and for many people working life is losing content and interest. remain unused and run to waste. the offer of compensatory leisure. and shows no power of concentration. 1962: 154) He argues that. if we imagine that the suppression of all manual labour . being influenced more and more by a 'press-button' attitude. without giving anything of himself.. He is acted upon passively.. There are three solutions: humanisation of the workplace.
it is already apparent that the increasingly urgent and feverish pursuit of happiness by the twentieth-century masses is one of the major sociological facts of out epoch. pervades societies with widely differing traditions and structures: mass exoduses by car.. that in advanced industrial societies.people. the potential acquisition of spare time should not suffice to create leisure. we may well ask whether the prospects of leisure in a technological civilization are not fated to recede for ever in a vicious circle. comforts etc. Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society. For another significant feature of technological civilization is that. together with 'institutions where people can pursue their chosen activities at all levels. unlike the 'corrupting anarchy which is too often the sad reality of today' (p. This being so. and certain values introduced. travel. basking in the sun at the seaside or among the mountain snows. including: increased time spent on necessary travel.. But his primary concern is with analysing the present rather than with speculation about the future. master and convert to their own ends (instead of being enslaved by them) all the countless instruments. A. Friedmann's pessimistic vision of capitalism seems at odds with the quotation given in the section on Jacques Ellul below. in the last analysis. J. Is it perhaps due to these defects in the organization of leisure that the conquest of spare time seems so precariously founded and is so often challenged? Or should we not mention in this connexion the existence of other handicaps but for which it would be impossible to explain why leisure. Friedmann focusses specifically on leisure. Modern societies do not possess enough institutions conducive to the realization of happiness. 158). Finally. In a 1968 paper entitled 'Leisure and technological civilization'. and the lure of material consumption. certain institutions must be established. the values of mass leisure are not yet capable of filling the void created by the introduction of the 40-hour week.. neither societies nor individuals are equipped to make it a reality. so recent a by-product of industrialization. noting that their prime role was in grooming the population as consumers. debilitating leisure' (Bosserman. while individuals cannot transform their free time into genuine leisure unless they are able to dominate. This quest is by no means always crowned by discovery. is already threatened on all sides with reduction and decay? (Friedmann. particularly to work. 1989: 163).. from being debased rather than enriched by their leisure'. 1968: 516) He discusses the role of the mass media. the detrimental effects of industrial work on workers' mental and physical health. machines and gadgets of technological civilization. the principal patterns of which are diffused all over the globe. in fact. into really free time. UTS.. It is therefore not surprising. to transform it. It is also at odds with an interpretation by Phillp Bosserman in which he states that Friedman proposed that 'the only hope for modern workers lay in their leisure: that leisure would have to compensate for dissatisfying. domestic work activities. In order to make leisure a living reality. achievement and satisfaction.. though it holds the key to happiness. though happiness is theoretically possible. when they leave work . (Friedmann. 2009 27 . 1968: 511-12) Friedmann goes on to discuss a number of these sources of 'reduction and decay'. 'functional' homes. clothes. from an earlier publication of Friedmann's which it has not been possible to locate. from pure relaxation on the one hand to creative activity on the other'. increasing levels of bureaucracy in society. second jobs. he looks to education. A kind of hedonism. to help members of technological civilizations to discover themselves 'through the transmutation of time off into free time'. . .
and can only be meaningful for most men if work is meaningful. He does. 1950/61: 276) Despite being later linked with the idea of the 'leisure society' by Daniel Bell (see below). 1958) does not mention the concept of the leisure society as such. by concentrating all energies on preserving freedom from want and pressing for consumer satiation at ever more opulent levels.. 'Leisure and work in post-industrial society' (Riesman. David Riesman. the dream of plenty … millions of Americans. discuss automation and the challenges it presents for the individual's quest for 'autonomy'. but fails with it. perhaps still the majority. Play. find sufficient vitality in pursuit of that dream: the trip to the end of the consumer rainbow retains its magic for the previously deprived. he is arguing. consumption and leisure. we jeopardize this achievement in a world where there are many more poor nations than rich ones and in which there are many more desires. 2009 28 . prepared for Paradise Lost. Regrettably. A. more leisure time. USA: The Lonely Crowd In The Lonely Crowd. In assessing The Lonely Crowd in the light of comments from reviewers and colleagues following its publication. of coming close to fulfilling the ageold dream of freedom from want. The alternative was to use the fruits of increased productivity to pursue non-material goals. we soon realized that the burden put on leisure by the disintegration of work is too huge to be coped with. 1950/1961: lvii) Thus. it may be easier in play than in work to break some of the institutional and characterological barriers to autonomy. does not use the term 'leisure society' and. and even a more humane working environment. however. far from having to be the residual left over from worktime and work-feeling. can increasingly become the sphere for the development of skill and competence in the art of living. in work. one of the founding fathers of leisure studies. where Riesman appears to have revised his earlier views on the potential role of leisure. leisure cannot be used to compensate for a dehumanised working environment: quality of life must be found in a balance between work and leisure. culturally and politically impossible in America: … no society has ever been in the same position as ours. It is only the minority where.1950: David Riesman. psychologically. Play may prove to be the sphere in which there is still some room left for the would-be autonomous man to reclaim his individual character from the pervasive demands of his social character. although he speaks of 'the distribution of leisure in America' as having been 'rapid as well as widespread' (p. but discusses the threat of dystopia which increasing productivity might bring to society.. He concludes: .. as far as can be seen. he states: . it will not be given a long time to come to a decision. so that the very qualities we looked for in leisure are more likely to come into being there if social and political action fight the two-front battle of work and leisure. we can see already the signs of a generation. published in 1950. J. 276). even among ourselves. 1958: 382) This cautious outlook was reflected in the Foreword to the 1961 edition of The Lonely Crowd. Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society. (Riesman. leisure itself cannot rescue work. which does not know what to do with Paradise Found. (Riesman. (Riesman. But this seemed socially.. UTS. for things other than abundance. For. Riesman's thesis was that everincreasing economic growth and material abundance was driving America and the efforts of its people but that this was socially and culturally unsustainable. Riesman's rather rambling 1958 essay. such as improved education and public services. looking further ahead. more equality. does not directly address the issue of future reductions in work-time.
Friedmann writes: 'We must conjure up the prospect of a society in which labor will be of restricted duration. but the situation is even more serious when we consider that putting our hopes in leisure is really taking refuge in idealism. in becoming 'cultivated' or.. 400). instead of being a vacuum representing a break with society. 2009 29 . and piecework.. exacting. moreover. it is simply not the case that the individual. will be found the justification of the humanistic experiment'. is literally stuffed with technical mechanisms of compensation and integration.. in short. We see first of all that leisure. We are perpetually falling into this idealism. Only see what leisue has made of the bourgeois classes of society! (Ellul. But if we agree to Friedmann's proposition that the human being can develop his personality only in the cultivation of leisure. he should rebel against his stupid. including various Christian employers and the churches who see leisure as offering the individual 'certain possibilities of life and self-development'. To assert that the individual expresses his personality and cultivates himself in the course of his leisure . He rejects the notion that mechanised. If leisure were a real vacuum. J. the individual cannot be 'absent' from his work without great injury to himself.1954/64: Jacques Ellul. Those who set an inordinately high value on sports and gambling are without substance. In a leisure more and more full of potentialities.. But neither of these conditions applies. and if.. requiring no attention.. even better. Who or what is to be his guide in the collective. Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society. Indeed.. discussed above: In commenting on certain essays of Leon Walther.. alienating work can be compensated for by engaging leisure: . It is not a vacuous interval. What if man's leisure allowed him to judge his own work? What if. a break with the forces of the environment. France: The Technological Society Jacques Ellul's The Technological Society was published in French in 1954. UTS. or of satisfaction.3 Friedmann is asserting here that it is impossible to make industrial labour positive. To acquiesce in the thesis that work is 'neutral' is to acquiesce in this profound rupture. the thesis of the value of leisure might hld. Leisure time is mechanized time and is exploited by techniques which. Work is an expression of life. we are denying that work is an element of personal fulfilment. to call good the fact that the worker thinks and dreams about matters unrelated to his work while his body carries out certain mechanical activities is to sanction the psychological dissociation between intelligence and action which our technical society tends to produce and which is possibly the greatest of human scourges. This is bad enough. will devote himself to the education of his personality or to spiritual and cultural life. A. in which culture will be identified completely with leisure. left on his own. are as invasive. He then cites. Georges Friedmann. or of happiness. It is not a human kind of emptiness in which decisions might be matured. and leave man no more free than labor itself. 1954/1964: 399) Ellul states that it is 'difficult to understand the hope that many men repose in leisure' (p. industrial operations automatized. and more and more active. 'a real person'. although different from those of man's ordinary work. . as an example. . History compels the judgement that it is in work that human beings develop and affirm their personality. but did not become available in English translation until 1964. educative employment of leisure? the employer? the administration? the labor unions? To put the question at all is to recognize its fatuity. As to the second condition. is to accept the suppression of half the human personality. mechanized job? Or find his four hours of 3 It has not been possible to locate the source of this quotation. it were spontaneously utilized for the education of the personality.
obligatory servitude an intolerable abasement? It is unimaginable. (Ellul, 1954/1964: 400401) Ellul suggests that Friedmann supports a scenario in which leisure can be an acceptable substitute in the absence of satisfying work. Ellul's specific quotation is not referenced and cannot be located but, as noted in our review of Friedmann's work above, this interpretation of his views is misleading.
1955: George Soule, USA: Time for Living George Soule is another commentator who sees possible danger in the increased leisure of the masses: What is gradually occurring, apparently with greater speed as the years pass, is that almost everyone is gaining both in economic security and in leisure. The advantages which in less highly productive civilizations could be enjoyed only by a minority ... are now being generally shared. For the first time in the history of mankind there is well on the way not a civilization topped by a leisure class, but a civilization characterized by universal leisure. Indeed, there might even be a complete reversal, by which the power would be held by a small minority of hard workers (the scientists, technologists, and professional executives), while the governed majority would have ample time for whatever they wised to do. The Peril of Democratic Leisure The unprecedented bestowal of abundant free time coupled with the means that in any other age would have been regarded as ample, not on a small class but on men and women of all ranks and stations, can be a frightening prospect. Power to allot time and energy as one pleases can give scope to creation, but it can also facilitate destruction. ... It [a society with abundant free time] could, indeed, destroy itself, either literally, or by degeneration to something subhuman. The only possibility of salvage in such a case would seem to be some divine operation like the great flood of Biblical legend, in which a worthy Noah had to be found to repopulate the world. (Soule, 1955: 122-23) This line of thinking is not pursued further but, insofar as part of the potential problem facing society might be boring and unsatisfying industrial work, as discussed by Ellul and Friedmann above, Soule argues that technology, the new democratic leisure and voluntarism can supply the solution: Democracy and technology in combination have, almost intuitively and without ever precisely seeing the problem, edged toward a new solution. They have gone a long way, both toward removing the stultifying type of work from the paid worker, and at the same time gradually absorbing him into a universal leisure class by making it possible for him to be free from the job for longer and longer periods. The process will be completed when automatic devices take the place of operators of repetitive machines, clerical drudges, and workers on assembly lines. Paradoxically, our civilization is clearing the way for meaningful and voluntary work by maximising leisure. (Soule, 1955: 129) 'Meaningful voluntary work' is any sort of work, paid or unpaid, which individuals undertake willingly and from which they obtain satisfaction.
A. J. Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society, UTS, 2009
1955: Herbert Marcuse, USA: Eros and Civilization In Eros and Civilization Herbert Marcuse observes that a 'progressive reduction of labor seems to be inevitable' (p. xxiii), but that this presents the capitalist system with a tension because, in the space offered by increased leisure, people might acquire a taste for freedom. He uses the terms 'performance' and 'performance principle' to characterise the capitalist industrial system and this is contrasted with the 'pleasure principle': Man exists only part-time, during the working days, as an instrument of alienated performance; the rest of the time he is free for himself. ... This free time would be potentially available for pleasure. ... [But], from the working day, alienation and regimentation spread into free time. Such co-ordination does not have to be, and normally is not, enforced from without by the agencies of society. The basic control of leisure is achieved by the length of the working day itself, by the tiresome and mechanical routine of alienated labor; these require that leisure be a passive relaxation and re-creation of energy for work. Not until the late stage of industrial civilization, when growth of productivity threatens to overflow the limits set by repressive domination, has the technique of mass manipulation developed an entertainment industry which directly controls leisure time, or has the state directly taken over the enforcement of such controls. The individual is not to be left alone (Marcuse, 1955: 48) The high standard of living in the domain of the great corporations is restrictive in a concrete sociological sense: the goods and services that the individuals buy control their needs and petrify their faculties. In exchange for commodities that enrich their life, the individuals sell not only their labor but also their free time. The better living is offset by the all-pervasive control over living. People dwell in apartment concentrations – and have private automobiles with which they can no longer escape into a different world. They have huge refrigerators filled with frozen foods. They have dozens of newspapers and magazines that espouse the same ideals. They have innumerable choices, innumerable gadgets which are all of the same sort and keep them occupied and divert their attention from the real issue – which is the awareness that they could both work less and determine their own needs and satisfactions. ... The repressiveness of the whole lies to a high degree in its efficacy: it enhances the scope of material culture, facilitates the procurement of the necessities of life, makes comfort and luxury cheaper, draws ever-larger areas into the orbit of industry – while at the same time sustaining toil and destruction. The individual pays by sacrificing his time, his consciousness, his dreams; civilization pays by sacrificing its own promises of liberty, justice, and peace for all. (Marcuse, 1955: 100) Under the 'ideal' conditions of mature industrial civilization, alienation would be completed by general automation of labor, reduction of labor time to a minimum, and exchangeability of functions. Since the length of the working day is itself one of the principal repressive factors imposed upon the pleasure principle by the reality principle, the reduction of the working day to the point where the mere quantum of labor time no longer arrests human development is the first prerequisite for freedom. (Marcuse, 1955: 152)
1956/1991: Erich Fromm, USA: The Sane Society Erich Fromm covers similar ground to Friedmann, in considering the possibility of a future life of leisure compensating for alienating work. The discussion arises in the context of his proposition that 'communitarian Socialism' should be adopted to ensure that industrial society becomes a 'sane society'. He considers various objections to this proposal, the first coming from those who note
A. J. Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society, UTS, 2009
that work is becoming more meaningless and more mechanized, but that this will be tolerable because a working day of four hours, or even two hours is a possibility for the future and work will require less active attention, enabling workers to spend their working hours in 'daydreams and reveries': Indeed, say the adherents of this point of view, the complete automization of work is what we hope for; man will work a few hours; it will not be uncomfortable, nor require much attention; it will be an almost unconscious routine like brushing one's teeth, and the centre of gravity will be the leisure hours in everybody's life. (Fromm, 1956/1991: 287, emphasis in the original) Fromm rejects this view, noting evidence that workers do not enjoy automated work environments that do not engage them, and that daydreaming and reveries are not healthy but are a 'symptom of lacking relatedness to reality'. Furthermore, he argues that it would be 'many generations' before the level of automization envisaged in the above scenario would be realised, so what would happen to the worker meanwhile? Will he not become more and more alienated and this just as much in his leisure hours as in his working time? is the hope for effortless work not a daydream based on the fantasy of laziness and push-button power, and a rather unhealthy fantasy at that? is not work such a fundamental part of man's existence that it cannot and should never be reduced to almost complete insignificance? Is not the mode of work itself an essential element in forming a person's character? Does completely automized work not lead to a completely automized life? (Fromm, 1956/1991: 289) Addressing the consumption context of leisure, he states: The alienated attitude toward consumption not only exists in our acquisition and consumption of commodities, but it determines far beyond this the employment of leisure time. What are we to expect? If a man works without genuine relatedness to what he is doing, if he buys and consumes commodities in an abstractified and alienated way, how can he make use of his leisure in an active and meaningful way? He always remains the passive and alienated consumer. He 'consumes' ballgames, moving pictures, newspapers and magazines, books, lectres, natural scenery, social gatherings, in the same alienated and abstractified way in which he consumes the commodities he has bought. He does not participate actively, he wants to 'take in' all there is to be had, and to have as much as possible of pleasure, culture and what not. Actually, he is not free to enjoy 'his' leisure; his leisure-time consumption is determined by industry, as are the commodities he buys; his taste is manipulated, he wants to see and hear what he is conditioned to want to see and hear; entertainment is an industry like any other, the customer is made to buy fun as he is made to buy dresses and shoes. the value of the fun is determined by its success on the market, not by anything which could be measured in human terms. (Fromm, 1956/1991: 132) He then discusses worker motivation generally and calls for humanisation of work and the workplace, but asserting that: One cannot separate work activity from political activity, from the use of leisure time and from personal life. If work were to become interesting without the other spheres of life becoming human, no real change would occur. In fact, it could not become interesting. It is the very evil of present-day culture that it separates and compartmentalizes the various spheres of living. The way to sanity lies in overcoming this split and in arriving at a new
A. J. Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society, UTS, 2009
unification and integration within society and within the individual human being. (Fromm, 1956/1991: 326) Thus he proposes what Stanley Parker later termed a 'holistic' approach to work and leisure (see below).
1958: Russell Lynes, USA: Time on our Hands As noted in discussing Juliet Schor's reference to this paper in Section 2 above, Lynes (1958) states twice in this paper that the 40-hour workweek is on the 'immediate horizon'. But the problem he wishes to address is already being faced as a result of Americans the increased leisure time already gained through the reduction in working hours from the 70 or 80 per week experienced at the beginning of the twentieth century. He observes: Urbanization, the shorter working day and week, and the changing roles of the sexes have, heaven knows, produced tremendous changes in the ways American live. But the premium put on the consuming time of the worker by our economic system presents us with a tidily packaged moral dilemma. When idleness is a public virtue, what becomes of the moral value of work: What are we going to substitute for the old adages on which we were brought up? What are we going to tell our children? What will happen to the economy if we go on saying that virtue is its own reward, that work is good for the soul, and that leisure is only a reward for toil/ what happens to the Calvinist ethic? (Lynes, 1958: 348-49) This is clearly the same issue as addressed by Friedmann, Ellul, Marcuse and Fromm above. The rest of the paper, more than half of it, is devoted to discussion of the need for more 'dilettantes' in society to assist in resolving the dilemma – not unlike Keynes' people ' who can teach us how to pluck the hour and the day virtuously', as discussed above.
1958: Harvey Swados, USA: Less Work – Less Leisure In an essay entitled 'Less work – less leisure', Harvey Swados explores the anecdotal evidence on moves to reduce working hours in the 1950s. He notes some of the obstacles to, and difficulties of, such moves, including: the opposition of women and farmers to reductions in working hours for industrial workers, since their own working hours would not be reduced; the difficulty some fear that they would have in dealing with increased leisure time; and the possibility that many workers with reduced hours would be tempted to take second jobs, thus, paradoxically, possibly increasing their overall working hours. There is therefore a clear note of scepticism concerning the prospect of increased leisure time, but Swados nevertheless concludes that: When the dust has settled – and a good many human beings have suffered in the struggle to achieve it – we will probably find ourselves in the era of the shorter work-week. Then ... [the] warning of a populace trained to work but not to live will be seen in all its force – and in all likelihood it may be too late to do anything about it in a missile-maddened, consumptioncrazy society premised on lunacy and buttressed by hypocrisy. ... The problem of what two hundred million of us will do in our increasing leisure time ... is so awesome in its magnitude as to be terrifying. (Swados, 1958: 362-3)
A. J. Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society, UTS, 2009
1958: David Dempsey, USA: Myth of the New Leisure Class David Dempsey's 1958 article in the New York Times is broadly sceptical in tone, anticipating Linder and the 'harried leisure class' (see below). He speaks of a 'new leisure class' comprising 60 million 'men and women, manual workers and white-collared, old and young, all with plenty of free time (theoretically, at least), a steady income and, most important, an abundance of available credit'. Thus this new class comprises about a third of the adult population of the USA at the time. But he argues that much of the increase of 3000 'mythical' hours leisure time a year supposedly gained from reductions in working hours are taken up in second jobs, more women entering the workforce, and civic duties such as charitable/committee work. Nevertheless he observes that increases in levels of expenditure on leisure constitute 'the biggest strides toward achieving a leisure society' made to date. He describes a harried leisure existence, or what Godbey (1975/1998) was later to call 'anti-leisure', and concludes: If this is not true leisure, what, then will the Age of Leisure be like, for although we have not yet entered it, we are without doubt standing nervously on its threshold. Automation today is in its infancy, and the thirty-hour week (and even twenty) is by no means an improbability. When this happens, there will be a limit to how many committees we can serve on, just as there must be a limit to our tolerance for watching television. The time may not be too far off when at least 1,000 of those mythical hours may really belong to us. (Dempsey, 1958: 24)
1959: Reuel Denney, USA: The Leisure Society: do we use leisure or does leisure use us? Reuel Denney, one of David Riesman's collaborators on The Lonely Crowd, devotes 14 out of the 15 pages of his paper to recent trends in leisure in the USA and the current problems it poses for employers and government. Despite the title of the paper, at no point is present or future America described as a 'leisure society' – in fact, it is referred to as an 'emporium society' (Denney, 1959: 47), indicating the growth in the economic significance of consumption. The short final section of the paper, 'In the Future', does, however, offer predictions of things to come in the 'world of leisure' and a world 'so strongly influenced by leisure in all its convolutions'. These predictions involve: more informal decision-making by managers and a decline in office hours; more flexible work patterns; increased subsidy for leisure, including an unquantified 'leisure wage to people so as to keep them from the workforce'; imitation of 'upper class' leisure patterns by the masses, for example, when 'industrial workers get a two months' vacation'; policies to protect the environment from leisure impacts; and ethical and legal challenges in new leisure industries and professions.
1960: Clark Kerr et al., USA: Industrialism and Industrial Man In Chris Rojek's reference to the leisure society, as discussed in Section 2 above, his first source is Kerr et al. (1960)4. In Industrialism and Industrial Man, Kerr and his colleagues put forward a theory of modern industrial societies, which they term 'pluralistic industrialism', which seeks to tread a path between a Marxist theory of conflict on the one hand and an atomistic economic theory of the market on the other. They discuss the issue of whether pluralistic industrial society of the future will offer to the individual more or less freedom and satisfaction in the workplace and conclude: 'For most people, any complete scope for the independent spirit on the job will be missing' (p. 237). However:
NB. Rojek's reference is to the 1973 Penguin edition of Industrialism and Industrial Man, published in the UK, but the book was originally published 13 years earlier in the United States. A. J. Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society, UTS, 2009
are no longer in dominance. such that their progress through the organisational hierarchy provides the focus for meaning in their lives. (Wilensky. Our work week is shorter. the quest for alternative ties is intensified. … The great new freedom may come in the leisure-time life of individuals. careers. . for the 'class structure of our society and its level of integration'. There may well come a new search for individuality and a new meaning to liberty.. When we have as much time during the day away from work as we have in work. and social integration'.. Wilensky's thesis is that in the contemporary industrial work-place only a minority of workers enjoy 'careers'.. The danger is there.. There is no mention of the idea of a 'leisure society'. 1960: 559-60) 1960: Max Kaplan. role as anti-dote to the effects of increasing regulation of industrial society. 'Work. We move about from A. the promise less certain. Withdrawal from work and an intensified search for substitute sources of identity and solidarity may result in new leisure commitments more personally satisfying and socially integrating than the ones usually reported in the sociological news. The economic system may be highly ordered and the political system barren ideologically. Therein lie both the danger and the promise of the newer patterns of labour and leisure. Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society. USA: Leisure in America The first chapter of Max Kapaln's Leisure in America is entitled 'An Age of Leisure' and begins as follows: We are in an age of leisure. Our 'rootlessness' has taken new directions.Outside his working life the individual may have more freedom under pluralistic industrialism than in most earlier forms of society. For the rest – the 'nonmobile mass' – work is a relatively unengaging means to the end of earning money. Where ties to occupation and work-place become weak. 1960: Harold Wilensky. what has happened? . but the social and recreational and cultural aspects of life should be quite diverse and quite changing. seeking life's meaning in the eye-level oven and split-level home. Higher standards of living. that is. Arguably. although increasingly important. 2009 35 . Our family life has changed in character. UTS. men who in politics are available for anything – anything. Careers and Social Integration Harold Wilensky's 1960 paper. and more education may make this not only possible but almost inevitable. Wilensky's analysis of the changing nature of the industrial work-place and its influence on lifestyles is more three-dimensional than Parker's (1971) later treatment of the topic. J. it plays a traditional. Or the critics of industrialism may be right: progress may produce a nation of apathetic if reliable workers and ardent consumers – all family locals. This has implications. more free time. Every facet of American life is included in the phrase that we are in an age of leisure. (Kerr et al. Our familiar sources of control.. Along with the bureaucratic conservatism of economic and political life may well go a New Bohemianism in the other aspects of life – partly as a reaction to the confining nature of the productive side of society. such as the church and elders of the community. Leisure will be the happy hunting ground for the independent spirit. holds an important place in the development of leisure studies because it was the starting point for Stanley Parker's wellknown typology of work-leisure relationships. via choices made regarding leisure and consumption. but the entanglements of citizenship. USA: Work. 1960: 237-8) While increasing leisure time is envisage in this scenario.
Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society. A whole new world o visual images reaches us in the mass media. almost four hours per week less each decade. stated: A. at least to this point. UTS. Kaplan does present what might be termed a 'leisure society' scenario. Leisure: Theory and Policy. The result could be a workweek of 20 hours at century's end. Roberts and Sessoms. Outdoor Recreation for America. like other authors. 1960: 3-4) Thus. We travel to all corners of the country and abroad. Out houses are being planned differently. to be sure – is so intensified that with the help of computerization. this theoretical framework never found favour with the leisure studies mainstream. As noted in Section 2 above. does not present a utopian future but discusses the measures he sees as necessary to develop a more civilized 'new culture' out of contemporary Western 'mass culture' (Kaplan. The rest of the book is not. in discussing the future he. religion and social control. but does say the following: … in the United States the normal extension of automation has reduced weekly work hours roughly from 70 to 37 in the past century. modified the values that have been identified with those of a business and industrial society? Can the 'acquisitive society' produce as one of its by-products those developments that. our purposes and goals. He dismisses pessimistic commentaries on mass society and suggests that the 'new leisure' 'invites us all to ponder this new source and this new result of wealth – leisure – and to encourage a broaders socila inquiry ' (Kaplan. The search for a different style of life has led to the 'exurbanite'. subcultures. in the 1970s. including the role of leisure. and our sense of direction as persons. He associates the 'new leisure' with a changing culture and with the vision that everyone can make creative use of their time. Towards the end of the book. class. the additional time off could be five hours in the 1970s. six in the 1980s. 1960: 304). 1962: Outdoor Recreation Resources Review Commission (ORRRC). family. in turn. The bulk of the book is basically a sociology of leisure. 1975: 395). as families. although he does not use the term. the 1962 Outdoor Recreation Resources Review Commission study.state to state. 1975: 4). As with other commentators. His book outlined an elaborate 'grand theory' of society. Here Kaplan does not use the term 'leisure society' or his earlier term 'age of leisure'. however. But the final chapter is devoted to 'the new leisure'. A revolution in the price of books has affected the directions of our literacy. Retirement comes earlier. his view was that leisure was already. Labor union contracts are more concerned with time as an increment. Chris Rojek's final reference to predictions of a leisure society was to Kaplan 's 1975 volume. but. a major social and economic phenomenon which required serious study. and as a nation? Has the age of leisure. discussing such topics as work. and seven in the 1990s. Our clothing habits have caused upheavals to that industry. Increased material comforts have come to ever larger segments of our people. rather than predicting a future leisure society/age. Kaplan is arguing that one already exists in the USA in 1960. We find a large segment of older people among us. USA Caution was expressed about future growth in leisure time in early outdoor recreation policy documents produced in the United States. thus an additional reduction of 12 hours by the year 2000 – an oversimplified projection. The most significant of them all. Thus. subvert or convert te values of the technical civilization? (Kaplan. personality. Old ideas about social class are modified. such as Dumazedier. community. 2009 36 . How deeply does all this affect our fundamental views of life. J. (Kaplan. state. as it happened. focussed on this issue.
stated: It is inevitable that the trends of increasing population and technological expansion will substantially add to the amount of leisure time as well as to the numbers of people with free time. postscript to the major ones. 1974. intricate relatedness to the largest questions of work. as Section 2 indicates. The workweek – 60 hours or more at the turn of the century – had fallen to 40 hours by 1960. US Nationwide Outdoor Recreation Plan. And my knowledge of French usage is not adequate to know whether there is any substantial difference between a 'civilisation du loisir' and a 'société du loisir'. but just as frequently misrepresented. in 1967. and politics. was the lack of reference to the person with whom the concept of the 'leisure society' has been most clearly identified. a major component of modern life: Seen in the complex of its multiple relations to other aspects of our mechanized and democratic civilization. may well become the most perplexing problem of the future. 2009 5 37 . … Leisure is. successful civilization. Toward a Society of Leisure. UTS. leisure is no longer a minor item. J. Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society. No theorizing about our basic social realities can be valid. thought by many to be the epitome of paradise. the very central element in the life-culture of millions upon millions of workers. And leisure. and these. in the early 1960s. It has deep-going. he is frequently referred to when the subject of the leisure society arises. (ORRRC. in the mid-twentieth century. The main basis of Dumazedier's thesis was that leisure was already. and many people believe it may decline to as little as 30 hours a week by the end of the century. With or without the question mark. but it clearly removes the tentative stance of the original.Urbanization and mobility have compounded the impact of the dramatic growth in the leisure time available to Americans. but which spring also from the historic and very practical need for hard work in the building of a nation. depending on whether there is time or money left. It is not known whether the decision to delete the question mark from the title in the English edition was taken by Dumazedier or the American publishers. (Bureau of Outdoor Recreation. what did Dumazedier have to say about the 'society of leisure' or the 'civilisation of leisure'? The term 'society of leisure' is not used in Dumazedier's book and 'civilization of leisure' only rarely. France: Toward a Society of Leisure Perhaps the most notable feature of the presentations at the LSA conference discussed at the beginning of the paper. (Dumazedier. without consideration of the relevancy of leisure to them. family. to be studied or not. therefore must now be re-examined and reformulated. Certainly a substantial adjustment in perspective will be required as we move into a period in which the leisure available to all citizens may be greatly increased. Dumazedier's book. and tentatively. A. which followed from the work of the ORRRC but was rejected by the Nixon Administration. 1977: 3)5 1962: Joffre Dumazedier. The amount of leisure already at hand is enough to have made many Americans uneasy. The Recreation Imperative. 1962: 22) The first. Vers une Civilisation du Loisir? was published in 1962 and the English translation. Leisure is the blessing and could be the curse of a progressive. Nevertheless. Joffre Dumazedier. on the contrary. namely the French sociologist. Ours is a culture that has always been inclined to look upon idle time with some misgivings for reasons that trace to the Puritan tradition of industry. 1967: 3-4) The Recreation Imperative was produced in 1974 but not endorsed by the Johnson or Nixon administrations and was only published 'for the use of the Committee on Interior and Insular affairs' of the US Senate in 1977 .
1971: 218) He addresses the issue of a 'leisure civilization' even more directly in his later book. the difference will be $5563. (Dumazedier.. 1967: 237-40) Thus. slums and inadequate housing create problems requiring solutions far more urgent for a vast number of individuals than the question of knowing how to spend their leisure time. many deride it as naïve. to indicate likely future trends for all industrial societies but. but observes: Many people are still attached primarily to their work . In the underdeveloped countries. It is obviously an unacceptable expression in many respects. Dumazedier. … With the prodigious growth in communications. a culture or a civilisation. Nearly all sociologists ignore it or reject it. He does not answer this question directly. By the end of the century. J.. Cultural models are transmitted from one end of the world to the other. or would it rather be a civilization bent on suicide? Is not this dramatic gap as dangerous for post-industrial society as the Chinese having an atomic bomb? We have sought to explain that the passive transformation of leisure time is not the best way to build a more human civilization in post-industrial society. he sees dangers: .. 236). it would seem. … It is in the area of leisure that this race runs the danger of producing the most frightful effects on the social and cultural aspirations of the mass of the people. This is exemplified in comments in a 1971 paper. as the world's most advanced industrial economy.But Dumazedier immediately warns about 'the danger of being bedazzled by leisure'. by reference to one A. the richest and the most prestigious. 4). and dismissing those who foresee an 'era of leisure' and a 'new Golden Age which will witness the magical vanishing of all social problems' (p. Henceforth. Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society. UTS. which again raises the Third World issues mentioned above: According to Kahn and Wiener [see below]. and more and more by messages coming in from the civilization that appears to be the strongest. rather than a leisure 'utopia'. Would this be a civilization of leisure. There is found the pole of propagation for a civilization that is tending toward universality. (Dumazedier. 1967: 236-37) He then looks to the United States. the question mark in the original version of the book was appropriate: Dumazedier was apprehensive about the prospects of a 'civilisation of leisure'. even after extensive development and aid programs. each one imitating today or tomorrow the beneficial or malignant aspects of leisure à l'américaine.. .. the planet has become very small indeed. . … The race seems endless. where he says: Can one speak of leisure civilisation as looming on the horizon of advanced industrial societies? Some greet this hypothesis with scepticism. referring disparagingly to 'essayists and poets [who] have been misled by the spectacle into thinking that leisure plays an even more autonomous and preponderant role than it does'. Patterns of leisure especially are being determined less and less by local experience alone. Towards the end of the book Dumazedier poses the question: 'Has the world really entered upon a civilization of leisure?' (p. the difference between the average yearly incomes in North America and South America is $2275. 2009 38 .. Sociology of Leisure. Firstly it is arbitrary to characterize a society. Americans have plunged in[to] the race for consumption of objects which often satisfy less a personal need than a need for conformity or prestige. a telecivilization. This means that the 'progress' of affluent society would increase the gap by 100 percent. a dangerous social mimicry will threaten to determine the cultural life of every country. leisure problems are secondary to the struggle against hunger or ignorance.
it seemed legitimate to conjure up the idea of a possible leisure civilization. Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society. It was therefore an attempt to remove leisure from the residual position it occupied in collective representation. In fact. This civilisation is not a golden age starting tomorrow. so as to grant it the same degree of importance as other. The type of civilisation which emerges with the predominance of the tertiary sector in the economy may be characterised in various ways … It is equally legitimate to speak of a neo-technical. the sexual revolution. an atomic. he concludes: 'The great and touted gains in free time since the 1850s. Of Time. (Dumazedier. social facts.. one is on surer ground when talking of the future of the machine than about the future of free time. A. Now. when he decided to write a book on leisure. which is summarised in the companion paper. (De Grazia. 1974: 211) He goes on to say that. J. (Dumazedier. but the basis of it – the decline in working hours – is subject to scrutiny.. must be seriously considered today. 79). Why were they wrong? They all reflected the same dream (more free time) but also. as major features. 1974: 211-12) But he insists that leisure has a potential role in countering the increasing materialism and degradation of cultures threatened by unfettered market forces: Market laws mould leisure. Work and Leisure In his seminal text. 2009 39 . an electronic or a cybernetic civilisation … or to single out mass consumption. then. the generational conflict etc. Sebastian de Grazia was sceptical about the idea of a technology-induced society of leisure: . One of the things which bids us be cautious about accepting glowing prophecies for the future of free time is that up to now they have all been wrong about it. are largely myth' (p.single feature. giving rise to the dream there was a common stimulus – the machine. I doubt it. 1974: 213) 1962: Sebastian De Grazia. Work and Leisure.. so: Under such circumstances. (Dumazedier. we have men of wisdom and vision predicting more time to come. to be solved tomorrow. allegedly more serious. among sociologists and others in the 1950s. many persons today feel we stand on the threshold of a new age of leisure. Have I succeeded? Although the term I used met with some journalistic and educational success. It is a set of new social and cultural problems which. USA: Of Time. . 1962: 284-5) The leisure society theme per se is not pursued further by De Grazia. UTS. which prompted the gathering together of many scattered facts in order to raise a general problem. On the basis of analysis of data on working hours from 1850 to 1960. the subject was not being considered seriously in characterisations of postindustrial society.. every half century from the time of the industrial revolution on. but increasingly diverse social movements protest against this debasement … It is these facts which prompted me to speak of the possible advent of a leisure civilisation.
It is not yet with us. 2009 40 . M. such as Samoa.. but it is coming towards us with rapid strides. 1964: 4-5) Here he quotes from Keynes's essay referred to above. that work expands to fill the time available: Symptoms such as material waste. the two seem to mix as badly as oil and water.. 20) (Gabor.. waste and unproductive working hours. 1964) The nature of the Age of Leisure is not extensively developed and is addressed essentially as an unresolved problem. There have been small earthly paradises before. The problem is substantially one of culture: We are here very much on unknown ground. He acknowledges that many might consider thoughts of an Age of Leisure untimely.. . Keynes. However unfruitful attempts have been so far. or Bali. The new technological paradise in which the work of a small minority is sufficient to keep the majority in idle luxury is an entirely different matter. This is what J. but asserts that: They are timely. were it not for certain powerful defence mechanisms which delay it. unless civilization is wiped out by nuclear war. People's desire to spend more time with their children is seen as an inadequate solution: 'adult people will have to look for other pastimes than playing with young children' (p. Burma. one must not give up hope that we shall be able to assimilate something from the A. 85). (Gabor. The first is destruction by nuclear war. 18) .1964: Denis Gabor. the latter summed up in 'Parkinson's Law'. making the problems more acute. in 1930. and the third is the Age of Leisure. (p.. the second is overpopulation. The intellectuals are aloof or take refuge in the problems of backward countries. What is more. but: Only the Age of Leisure will find man psychologically unprepared. Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society. Western object-mindedness and work addiction is one extreme. . UK: Inventing the Future Denis Gabor opens Inventing the Future with what he calls a 'trilemma': Our civilization faces three great dangers. as defence mechanisms of the social organism to stave off danger – the danger of the Age of Leisure. UTS. casting his eyes a few generations ahead.. the Age of Leisure will be a reality within one generation in the Western countries and in the USSR. 1964: 6-7) The 'powerful mechanisms' are military expenditure. J. 1964: 3) He argues that if either of the first two dangers eventuates people will 'know what to do'. so soon after the horrors of the Great Depression and the Second World War... Take it as a metaphor or as a statement of fact: our civilization behaves as if the Age of Leisure were staring it in the face and as if it did not like the look of it. (Gabor. because. Leisure for all is a complete novelty in human history. in the most highly industrialized countries. (Gabor.. leisure would be with us now. where people worked little and were satisfied with what they had. Parkinson's Law.. In the most advanced countries powerful but unstable defence mechanisms are at work. and irrational armaments can be interpreted . All the time technology is progressing. Eastern quietism and introversion is another. especially in the United States. wrote of . Nobody can really be satisfied with the picture of man in the Age of Leisure nervously filling his spare time with do-it-yourself hobbies which imitate work and getting no nearer to the meditative repose of the east than angling. (p.
Robert Lee's Religion and Leisure in America. the growth in the leisure market and growth in participation in a wide variety of leisure pursuits. concluding that governments should facilitate the move to shorter working hours in order to spread the diminishing demand for labour. (p. everything to his innate rich and happy nature' (p. hard. Lee's own perspective is. The choice before us is clear: A new age of leisure or a new barbarism! (p. but that it already exists in 1960s America. Now with new labor-saving devices in factory. support's Gabor's analysis. Its famous opening statement was: A. not that the leisure society lies in the future. USA: Religion and Leisure in America While many pre-World War II volumes on leisure frequently adopted pronounced moral positions on appropriate and inappropriate use of leisure. 'his work owes nothing to his sufferings. who will experience lives of material comfort. As Protestants who seek to be relevant to contemporary culture. (Gabor. Margerison's (1967) paper. UK: The Fourth Wave Another publication which one might expect to have been mentioned in recollections at a British conference on this topic is Michael Dower's 1965 essay: The Fourth Wave: The Challenge of Leisure. 1964: 156) A couple of pages on education for leisure suggests that it will need to develop in future generations of young people. and home. and tragic life' but. Leisure today may be a challenge or a threat.. 1964: 36). Many and varied are the ways of appraising and evaluating the problems which a new leisure society poses. however. office. 20) . as equitably as possible. we dare not remain silent about our new leisure society. 2009 41 . a vice or a virtue. we are becoming a new leisure society. 1964: Robert Lee. a bane or a blessing. is one of the few exceptions. A chapter entitled 'The New Leisure Society: Facts and Trends'. Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society. 26) (Lee. as evidenced by reduced working hours. J. the self-generated creativity and enthusiasm for life which he sees a characteristic of 'Mozartian man'. particularly relatively unskilled labor. and with the onset of automation. One approach – thus far largely neglected – is to consider the moral problem and the role of religion and theology in relation to leisure.. The twenty-five or thirty hour workweek is more than a wild dream – it is a definite threat.. . Among his comments on the leisure society are the following: A century ago the industrial workweek was seventy hours. opens with the comment: 'A resounding chorus of voices now proclaims that we are headed toward an unprecedented era of leisure in American life' (Lee.. unlike the 'great tormented creators' in history. 18-19) . (pp. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 'had a short. 22-3) Increasingly it is in our leisure time that either the meaningfulness or the pointlessness of life will be revealed.east which will be better for the restless Western mind than alcohol or opium. (pp.. but adds little to it.. UTS. Whether it will be a boring nuisance or an unmatched opportunity may well depend on the perspectives and resources we bring to bear upon the problem. 'Hopes and fears for the age of leisure'. from production-oriented to a consumption-oriented economy. 1964) 1965: Michael Dower. written by a theology professor. such a stance is rare in post-war contributions. American society is shifting from a primary focus on work to one on leisure. 201). a hazard or an opportunity.
just a 'scenario'. First. the sprawl of car-based suburbs. Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society.000 hours a year. Kahn and Wiener note De Grazia's criticism of conventional statistics on working hours (see above ). possibly even below 1. In practice. In seeking to describe a 'plausible and culturally consistent projection of culture. since World War II. 1967: Herman Kahn and Anthony Wiener.000. Although it is not clearly stated. 195). mostly in the form of 'battalions of cars'. the figure is just 1100 hours. UTS. With constant working hours this would have produced an increase in real output and incomes of 150% by the year 2000. for a 'Leisure Orientated Society'. (Dower. Third. is not given. it was concerned with the growing threat of leisure to the countryside. in such circumstances. (Kahn and Wiener. the surge of a fourth wave which could be more powerful than all the others. values. for Kahn and Wiener to have expected some of this growth to be sacrificed for reduced working hours as it had in the past. the sudden growth of dark industrial towns. in one scenario they show annual working time in the year 2000 of 1600 hours (p. Despite this somewhat sensational start.500. The modest word is leisure. and observe that 'Since the war. 1967: 125) The basis for identifying this as a 'probably renewed tendency'. The conclusion in regard to future working hours is then stated as follows: . the thrusting movement along far-flung railways. Kahn and Wiener note the difficulties of 'psychological and sociological speculation' including. the average American who works more or less full-time works an average of 2. productivity growth of the United States economy slowed to less than 2% a year from the 1970s onwards. It seems reasonable. involving 147 working days a year and 218 days off (p. for example. which is assessed as being technically consistent with other features of Kahn and Wiener's 'surprise free' projection. Second. If we extrapolated postwar trends. Dower later became Director of Britain's Countryside Commission. and style of life' (p. USA: The Year 2000 Herman Kahn was one of the earliest and most well-known of the 'futurists'. Nevertheless. giving growth of only 85% up A. one can imagine the hours dropping substantially below 1.Three great waves have broken across the face of Britain since 1800. If. production and incomes in the USA had risen but working hours had not declined by as much as this would warrant.900 hours a year by the year 2000. and how to cope with it. 173) – a reduction of 25% from 1965 (despite the reduction in the previous 15 years being less than 10% – see also Kando below) and in another scenario. such issues as whether work will become more or less important in people's lives.700 and 1. Dower's thesis was not utopian. 193) for the year 2000. 2009 42 . very little of the increased productivity has been taken up in increased leisure' (p. 1965: 123). which includes assumptions about growth in productivity. In considering trends in work time.. 125) – that is. as seems probable. this should drop to something between 1. it would seem that the reduction in working hours is predicated on projecting growth in productivity into the future at 3% a year. against the empirical evidence. This is. under the guise of a modest word. and a prediction that the 'basic industrial working week' would fall to 30 hours by the year 2000. labour force participation rates and per capita incomes. of course. now the Countryside Agency. Now we see.. there is a renewed tendency to take up the increased productivity in increased leisure. J.
cultural values. 1967: 207). would. They then turn to leisure scenarios of various social classes. lavish entertainment. This may explain the subsequent failure of the reduction in working hours to materialise. Kahn and W iener were not alone in building their projections on assumptions of continuing high productivity growth: as late as 1980. But there is little evidence in the leisure studies literature that this particular source was known to mainstream leisure studies scholars of the time (with the exception of Dumazedier). Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society. might be tempted to spend some of their additional free time in extra paid work. in many ways. they suggest. UTS. but also social and cultural are involved.. A. . expensive residences. in the form of moonlighting by men and additional paid work by women. 1980: 17). these people might militate politically against civil rights and against the poor and relatively poor nonworking classes that they must support.. in voluntary poverty and/or minor or even major criminality. travel. At the same time.3% annual growth (Best. Kahn and Wiener are even more exceptional in discussing the likely shape of a leisureorientated society. particularly further racial segregation in cities. (Kahn and Wiener. not only technological and economic. Productivity growth is just one indicator. The scenario they present is not. and comparable manifestations of pressures toward a general degradation and vulgarization of culture would be a likely result of the purchasing decisions of this group. let alone being influential. To a sociologist. possibly more relevant is workers' incomes. Many factors. by contrast. in Flexible Life Scheduling. Productivity growth in the USA averaged more than 3% a year during the 1950s and '60s but less than 1. would be everywhere. Year 2000 equivalents for the bowling alley. and a mannered and cultivated style of life. Dumazedier stated: The predictions of physicists such as Kahn or of economists need to be based on projective and comparative research of all the social sciences working together. At least one leisure theorist expressed doubt about Kahn and Wiener's projections at the time. such as emphasizing education.. and the outboard motor. But in the main they would: . J.. 1971: 193-94) Nevertheless Kahn and Wiener's work stands as one of the few actual projections of a 'leisure society' identified in the literature in this review. Second they discuss possible consequences for the social structure. 2009 6 43 . (Kahn and Wiener.5% a year from 1970-2000 (see FRBSF. provide a tremendous market for all kinds of sports and fads and particularly for various forms of mass entertainment. The drive-in church. Kroch (1991) shows that real wages and salaries in the USA were static in the period 1973-1990. Fred Best. miniature slotracing car tracks.. They first discuss the likely cultural and moral consequence of life appearing to be too easy in a context of falling working hours. (Dumazedier. be emulating the life-style of the landed gentry of the previous century. the 'museum-o-rama'.to the end of the century6. The lower middle classes. and they would likely provide the primary support for both conservative national policies and political jingoisms. There may also be some romanticization of the 'noble savage' (or 'hippy') who lives outside the values of the society. however.. such anticipations as those of Kahn seem too linear and also too optimistic. developed future work/leisure scenarios on the assumption of 3. seen as unproblematic: they devote considerable space to discussion of 'alienation'. Effete attitudes might be combined with contempt for the lower middle classes and fear of the poor and their propensity for violence. 2007). 1967: 206-7) The upper middle class: .
languages. composing. UTS. 8. 13. from all the cultural confusion and normative conflicts. Kahn and his associates did not pursue the 'leisure-orientated society' theme. 1976: 23) The term 'leisure society' is not used. 10. debating and politicking. philosophy. rituals. exhibitions and performances. normlessness. excitement. buy considerable protection from these exigencies – that is. leisure-orientated. acting. traditions and customs. art. Ritualistic and aesthetic activities. painting. Kahn and Wiener discuss the challenges posed by the loss of centrality of work. Brown and Martel. for example. Conversation. Tourism. is likely to be available and possibly generally usable in a democratic and upward mobile society like the United States. 207). The model of the cultivated gentleman. demanding religions. a sense of noblesse oblige. The creation of taboos. amusement. Hunting. Many public works and projects.The very wealthy would be able to: . writing. Other cultural and social activities. Some '70 or 80 per cent of people [would] become gentlemen' (presumably including women!) and there would be 'a very serious emphasis on sports. which would be shared by many in the upper middle class. and so on' (p. but developed the concept of 'quaternary activities'. as the identity confusion typical of adolescence is exacerbated by the confusion. contests.. decorating. A. suggesting that: Many of the benefits of work could be derived from other forms of activity. Regarding youth: they 'could be especially self-indulgent or alienated. ( Kahn and Wiener. musicianship. All this was seen as a 'plausible' future for the year 2000! In a later volume. Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society. but it can be seen that the majority of the items on the list are leisure or leisure-related activities. preferably. on competitive "partner" games (chess. Reading. 2. boating. humanistic. institutionalized. bridge) on music. J. 1967: 209) It is suggested that an 'affluent. Quaternary activities were listed as: 1. 5. Because of their social power. in some groups. and anomie of society' (p. games. 9. 6. including search for adventure. 217). or on the study of science. 12. 11. 4. fishing. Acquisition and exercise of nonvocational skills.. (Kahn. 3. camping. 1967: 207). 2009 44 . published in 1976 to mark the bicentenary of the United States. Improving property – gardening. hiking. arts and crafts. many would have responsibility and there might be. The Next 200 Years. provided they were available and. Other 'recreations'. or serious travel. (Kahn and Wiener. Most welfare and social security functions. discussion. 7. totems. which they saw as dominating 'truly post-industrial societies'. and partly alienated' society could be quite stable. Gourmet cooking and eating.
He argues that 'the monopoly of the industrial system on social purpose be broken' (p. stimulates demand to consume the products it produces. and that ambitious labor leaders who are warbling about the four- A. when this day comes.'s: The prophets of Automatic Abundance assure us that the economy of the 1970s will grow as effortlessly as crabgrass in a lawn. [and] the emancipation of education. the assertion of the aesthetic dimensions of life. Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society. to improve the physical and spiritual quality of life.A.1967: John Kenneth Galbraith. to explain the state of affairs he describes as being the result of 'demand management': the process by which industry. J. He suggests that. 1967: 357) Galbraith exaggerates his case. he refers only in general terms to an anonymous group of people who were predicting a leisured future at the time. The notion of a new era of greatly expanded leisure is. indicates his sceptical stance regarding the prospect of a leisure society.A.A. widened choice as between work and leisure. 'There'll be less leisure than you think'. or A. using more extensive data. in the absence of such manipulation. many would change their preferences in favour of more leisure time. since his limited empirical evidence suggests that incomes rising by about 2. (Galbraith. (Galbraith. as their incomes rise. the expansion of public services that are not sponsored by the industrial system. 372). Over the last thirty years. Over the last quarter-century. confirms this basic premise.. It is agreed that the question deserves the most careful study. that technology has solved the classic problem of scarce resources. There are dangers of abuse. a reputation for cerebration beyond the reach of run-of-the-mill minds has been most easily achieved by speculation on how. 1967: 372) 1970: Gilbert Burck. through advertising. Carter (1970-71).'s aver. That is the eventual opportunity for a great deal more leisure. On the evidence. There will be much more free time. in fact. The big tasks of the 1970s. .5% a year are consistent with no change in working hours. UTS. This is necessary to achieve: .'s believe that the day is near when people will no longer be condemned to long hours on life's treadmills. however. USA: Less Leisure than you Think The title of Gilbert Burck's (1970) Fortune magazine essay . Galbraith goes on. USA: The New Industrial State John Kenneth Galbraith rejected the conventional notions of increasing leisure time under the current industrial system: The industrial system has long held out one rather striking promise to its participants. one must conclude that. product innovation and built-in obsolescence. The standard work week has declined but this has been offset by increased demand for overtime work and the companion willingness to supply it. and to gain more leisure. many A.. Nor will it serve much longer to convey an impression of social vision... a conventional conversation piece. men will work longer hours and seek less leisure. The tendency of the industrial system is not in this direction. The work week and the work year will be radically reduced. men will employ what is invariably called their new-found leisure. have nearly doubled. the A. will be to distribute production equitably. labelling them the 'prophets of Automatic Abundance'. Like a number of commentators in this review. 2009 45 . During this period average weekly earnings adjusted for price increases (but not allowing for taxes). the average work week in industry [in USA] has remained almost constant.
in that time the manufacturing labour force was static. Britain has become a society of leisure in that activities in which people elect to participate during their free time play a significant part in the development of their sense of self-identity. or 25%.. including Australia. Ken Roberts stated: . (Roberts... (Burck.day and even the three-day week are only anticipating the inevitable.. The more time we save in making goods. in a chapter entitled 'A Society of Leisure'.. Extending the analysis to 2007. UTS. (p. . has less scope for productivity increases7 therefore increasing demand for services could rapidly absorb any labour resources not required in the manufacturing sector. 1970/72) Burck thus offers a unique contribution to the debate in observing that labour in service occupations. (p. annual. of the growth of 22 million in the US labour force between 1968 and 1980. but as a state that was already in existence in 1970. which is why it is justifiable to call them societies of leisure. If anything. published in 1970. with 6 million of the increase going into government services and 11 million into private sector services. In Australia. especially in the government sector. . most of this is nonsense. Burck's predictions of the growing significance of services were conservative. 1972: 336) His rationale for rejecting the thesis of the A. He projected an increase of 20 million. the information we have at our disposal does suggest that. illusion or both. and leisure thereby is accorded the power to reciprocate the influence that other institutions have upon it. A. in the US labour force from 1968 to 1980. along with other modern societies. of the growth in the labour force of 68 million between 1968 and 2007. 1970: 101-02) Three points should be noted about this statement: 1. Roberts did not see the 'society of leisure' as something which advanced industrial societies were heading towards. Even if the performance of the services gets better. the more time we spend providing services. ABS) . According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (www.gov). and similar trends can be found in other industrialised counties. … The influence that leisure exerts upon people's lives and upon other institutions is specific to advanced industrial societies. (source: Social Trends.A. between 1988 and 2006 the employed labour force grew by 2.8 1970: Kenneth Roberts. Unfortunately. (p. UK: Leisure In the first edition of his book Leisure.bls.5 million..8 million. 343) . 21 million was accounted for by growth in service employment. 351) (Burck. the prospects for reducing the hours on life's treadmills very much will keep receding into the future. 2009 8 7 46 . Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society. 337) The leisure society is a myth because more and more man-hours will be needed to provide ever-expanding services. all 68 million was accounted for by growth in services employment. J.'s is based on an analysis of trends in labour market productivity and consumer demand: The basic reason why carefree abundance and leisure are not likely to fall into our laps like ripe fruit may be put very simply. This point reflects the work of Baumol and Bowen (1968) on labour costs and productivity in the performing arts. while the numbers employed in services rose by 2.
' (Roberts. 1975/2006: 18) and spoke of 'any society of leisure that we might be entering . there is no reference to the idea of a society of leisure and it has not re-emerged in Roberts's subsequent books. have got so much time on their hands that they do not know what to do with it? . was written by Swedish economist. there are limits to how widely the influence of leisure is spreading throughout th social structure. short-lived. like most economists. (Roberts. 2009 47 . 'Are we verging on a golden age of leisure or threatened by a wilderness of boredom?' (Roberts. Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society. Tis is used to purchase consumption goods. (Linder. Stafan Linder. Sweden/USA: The Harried Leisure Class The Harried Leisure Class. while this remains so. . he questions the whole 'so-called 'leisure problem'': What in fact is this much publicized but undefined leisure problem? Does it mean that people. the effect of increasing productivity of labour and growing real incomes is a sense of 'harriedness': time becomes increasingly scarce.. Work and politics are two areas of life where its impact is slight and. But leisure has not become and is not becoming synonymous with or the basis of modern life in general. the main criterion for judging industrial societies to be societies of leisure was not the quantum of leisure time per se.. 1975/2006: 20. Roberts' acceptance of the current existence of a 'society of leisure' was. if anything. seen as problematical: the final chapter of Roberts' book was entitled: 'Is Leisure a Problem?' – and he cautiously concluded that it was. The pace is quickening. people A. We can imagine. then it is possible to draw peculiar conclusions. the enjoyment of which takes a certain time.. however. published in 1981. When they have consumed these goods. He does not discuss the leisure society as such.. What has happened is the exact opposite. 1978: 146-8) In the second edition of Leisure. but opens the book with the following observation: We had always expected one of the beneficent results of economic affluence to be a tranquil and harmonious manner of life... in a chapter entitled 'A post-industrial society of leisure?'. If we take the position. because of the shorter working week. They have a job. talk of a society of leisure is ill-advised. . and our lives in fact are becoming steadily more hectic. UTS. a life in Arcadia. Talk of a leisure civilisation or a society of leisure is misconceived. that we now have so much free time that we do not know what to do with it. It may be that some people are in such a situation. and that certain parts of this time are reduced to what we have called economic free time. Contemporary Society and the Growth of Leisure. but leisure is not becoming the whole of it. J. and the 'leisure society' was not necessarily something to be unquestioningly celebrated as 'utopian' but it was.. given the fixed number of hours in the day. he is more emphatic: The growth of leisure is affecting the quality of life. emphasis added).2.. In a 1975 conference paper discussing the 'myths and realities' of the concept he asked. The increasing range and quantity of consumer goods require time to use and time to maintain. 1970: Staffan Linder. and they make a certain amount of money. 3. while on sabbatical at Columbia University in the United States. residual substance that only becomes a matter of public concern if used in harmful ways. Furthermore. in this case. In his 1978 book. Leisure is no longer a shadowy. but the significance of leisure activities in the development of individuals' 'sense of self-identity' and the influence leisure 'exerts upon people's lives'. that consumption is instantaneous and that free time is some entirely isolated utility. 1970: 1) He advances the proposition that.
USA: Future Shock One of the most popular of the popular futurists. Here again. but to the quality of our civilization. but types of play as well. For moral. or other reasons. They can be extremely busy in all sorts of mischief.. however. 2009 48 . We are rapidly multiplying not merely types of work.. at least for some. however. hobbies. 1970: 262-63) Toffler appears to be much more interested in the 'breathtaking'. it is probable that many people choose to expend their increasing resources in a manner injurious to themselves and their environment. If people have more time left over for consumption than they think they need. would seem uncommon. at least by economists and by psychologists interested in economics. in the sense that people do not know what to do with their time. which are not expanded upon. demonstrates that. This is a massive redevelopment of the society's time and energy.. In the first book only passing reference is made to leisure. in the chapter on 'A Surfeit of Subcults'. In the United States. This too is something that can lead people to talk of a leisure problem. ethical. The number of acceptable pastimes. Such a mode of life. (Linder. as the society itself shifts from a work orientation towards greater involvement in leisure.. . . is energetically denied. (Toffler. Such individuals are not idle. UTS. (Linder. it must mean that they have reached a maximum for their consumption. but in concerns with the nature of the activities they choose to engage in during that time: . Leisure-time pursuits will become an increasingly important basis for differences between people. games. Alvin Toffler published Future Shock in 1970 and The Third Wave in 1980. he states: Even if technology were to free millions of people from the need to work in the future. The surfing subcult is a signpost pointing to the future. A. but it is obviously no leisure problem. for example. at least with such vacuous practices as reading comics and drinking Coca-Cola. cultural. For we are already producing large numbers of 'fun specialists'. we have a problem relating not to economic free time. This is a very real problem.. Insofar as they do not do this. for example. It is possible also to worry over the fact that so many people occupy themselves. if not with mischief. a leisure-time commitment can also serve as the basis for an entire life style. 'sophisticated technology' and 'subcult' aspects of this projected future than in its economic and social basis and implications. since the turn of the century alone. The existence of such a ceiling. they cannot accept the way others choose to use their time. J. and the growth of a distinct subcult built around surfing. 1970: 12) 1970: Alvin Toffler. As this commitment declines further. most of them surely take some form of extra work. 1970: 11) Linder then deals with the contention that the so-called 'problem' of leisure lies not in people not knowing what to do with their leisure time. It is a social problem. Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society. sports and entertainments is climbing rapidly.spend the rest of their time in complete passivity. under the heading 'The Fun Specialists'. the society's measurable commitment to work has plummeted by nearly a third. we shall advance into an era of breathtaking fun specialism – much of it based on sophisticated technology. we would find the same push towards diversity [as seen in professions discussed earlier] operating among those left free to play. This gives them more money which they can use in consumption and thus absorb consumption time..
Section 2 above) has associated Stanley Parker. which is seen to have the effect of both shortening working hours and making work increasingly boring. This casts the whole question of leisure into a new light. At no point does he mention. (Bates. He refers approvingly to Jacques Ellul's negative comments on leisure society ideas (see also above). such as personal grooming and plastic surgery.. Friedmann and Ellul focus on the trend towards increasing automation of industrial work. neither is the logic in seeing an increase in service employment as part of a 'leisure society'. a 'leisure society'. The question is not work versus leisure. in fact. But they are concerned as much. Bates. in which he supports an 'holistic' approach to work and leisure. arguably more. In one passage (pp. 118-120) he is critical of a proposal by Georges Friedmann to make leisure a 'new centre of human development' (although he fails to convey the caution in Friedmann's comments – see above).. the non-workers will be supported is not explained. an expansion of the number of people not working in the production and distribution of agricultural and industrial goods. and the multiplication of 'religious and philosophical cults'. This will occur both by withholding large numbers of people from any form of employment in society and by expanding the categories of individuals whose work involves 'nonproductive or non-economic service activities'. as it has been in recent years. a concept with some similarities with Gershuny's 'self-service economy' and Robertson's 'ownwork': .. let alone envisage. and self-monitored work for Sector A [the domestic economy]. with the prediction of a 'leisure society'. (Toffler. USA: Social Trends in a Leisure Society The term 'leisure society' is used in the title but not in the body of the text of Frederick Bates's article. including an increase in 'narcissistic activities'. UTS. Parker was concerned with the balance between work and leisure. A. spent producing goods and services for our own use – prosuming – then the old distinction between work and leisure falls apart. 1975: 265) How.. 1971: Frederick L. and his seminal work The Future of Work and Leisure (1971). selfdirected. UK: The Future of Work and Leisure As we have seen. Once we recognise that much of our so-called leisure time is. Parker. we are moving towards a future economy in which very large numbers never hold full-time jobs. Bates asserts that automation will result in: . but paid work for Sector B [the formal economy] versus unpaid. Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society.In The Third Wave work and leisure futures are no longer related to subcults and 'funspecialists' but are discussed in the context of 'Prosumer lifestyles'. Bates goes on to predict expansion in a number of 'categories of non-work activities'. 1980: 28788) 1971: Stanley Parker. 2009 49 . with the latter effect as with the former and this is certainly true of the bulk of Parker's final chapter on implications for social policy. J.. . to mean a shorter and shorter workweek or work year. meaningless and alienating. at least one commentator (Waring. or in which 'full-time' is redefined. and at what level.
Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society. the Age of Pollution. We have the basic necessities and enjoy a rather comfortable standard of living . man has the freedom to enjoy his own pursuits. (p.. they are not always sure how to achieve it. (Sessoms. the need for recreation becomes more critical. 1972: 316) In a further paper. We enter the work force at a later stage in life than did our forefathers and we look forward to years of retirement. J. Douglas Sessoms. Others tell us we are in the Age of Space. Douglas Sessoms.1972: H. 313) (Sessoms. so like lemmings. they are creating a set of their own. 312) . free time is a right and they want to enjoy it. Often this leads to the destruction of self and the eroding of our natural resources.. We are moving from a hard industry-based economy to a service-based one. at his own pace. the late H. some future state but one which was already being experienced in the early 1970s. UTS. The work week has shrunk considerably in the last decades and we now have time and the need to discover self. a prominent academic in the early days of leisure studies. You name it and we have an age for it. In fact we are rediscovering the concept of homo ludens.. A. Our advances in technology have freed many from the drudgery of routine work. May I add another one to that long list and one which I think has a great deal more validity than some of the other descriptive phrases given to identify where we are in the continuum of history. 1972: 312) For the most part Sessoms is upbeat about the Age of Leisure. they scurry the countryside seeking fulfilment. that man was born to be a work animal. (Sessoms. it is frightening and overpowering. For the most part we no longer hold work to be the central interest of life. For the majority of us want is not a reality. Unfortunately. and explores the values which would be compatible with such a society. 2009 50 . (Sessoms. then there is the Age of Crisis. but he does strike the occasional cautionary note: For those who are unprepared for this adventure.. man the play animal. although some of the evidence appears to relate not to leisure as such but to what most would see as evidence of the existence of a post-industrial economy: There is much evidence to support the view that we are entering the leisure age. stated: According to some we are in the Age of Aquarius. USA: Recreation In a 1972 paper. we demean the importance of recreation and fill our free time with busy work. neurotic phobias. then our recreation must be meaningful or else both social and individual pathologies may develop. Sessoms (1974) uses the terms 'leisure-orientated society' (in the body of a paper but not in its title) and 'non-work-centred' society. 1972) He has no difficulty with increased leisure time compensating for monotonous or meaningless work: With the decline of work as a means of providing expression and satisfaction. the Age of Protest. I believe we are entering the Age of Leisure and that for the first time since the days of ancient Greece and Rome. (p. If the job is monotonous. Sessoms asserts. To them. Consequently. 1972: 311) The Age of Leisure is not. and narcotic consumption. Although the new generation of workers are affected by the residue of our previous [work ethic] attitudes.
However. In this volume there is one indexed comment on the 'leisure society' which states: David Riesman. Having noted a number of likely influences on the level of weekly working hours. In the longer term. for the first time in human history. this linking of Riesman with the idea of a leisure society is hard to justify. the working week will continue to decline slowly in length as it has done since 1959. 2009 51 . Hence the need for more planning to cater for these peak demands. Bell goes on to review the writings of numerous other futurologists who had anticipated that increasing automation and 'cybernation' would solve the problem of economic scarcity. The Committee infer that. Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society. particularly in the light of his comments in the foreword to the 1961 edition of The Lonely Crowd. But the implications of this were somewhat mundane. This observation. together with their cautious comments on weekly working hours led to the following conclusion regarding future leisure time trends: 'Although the Committee cannot predict the speed at which leisure time will increase. nor will it go on indefinitely: but it should make one or two hours a week available for leisure. 1973: xv).1973: House of Lords. 1973: 463). In regard to working hours. this implied increased pressure on leisure facilities during the existing periods of 'greatest congestion' and in the 'same over-crowded months of the year'. the Committee concluded: These … factors may in the short term depress the number of working hours. The Committee think that built into human nature there is a need for work which will resist movements towards a very short working week. 1973: xii) The Committee nevertheless believed that holiday entitlements would increase beyond the annual two weeks which 72% of the workforce was then entitled to. J. A. referring to them collectively as examples of 'technological euphoria'. Since the 'pattern of work within the week' and the timing of holidays were unlikely to change. (House of Lords Select Committee on Sport and Leisure. UTS. 1973: 456) As noted above. 1973: x). … The long term trend will not be constantly downwards. This decline will not involve any dramatic changes. was thinking of a 'leisure society' and the sociological problems that might arise when. or not for a long time' (Bell. he concludes with the questions: 'Has the economic problem been solved? Will scarcity disappear? Put in the terms which socialist and utopian thinkers have used – nineteenth century terms – the answer is no. during the next decade. USA: The Coming of Post-Industrial Society Rojek's second source noted in Section 2 above is Daniel Bell's The Coming of Post-Industrial Society. (Bell. UK: Sport and Leisure The House of Lords Select Committee on Sport and Leisure was appointed in 1971 and published its final report in 1973. 1973: Daniel Bell.. the trade union campaign for a 35-hour working week. including the practice of working overtime. and the effect of unemployment and income levels. they regard a reduction in working hours as inevitable' (House of Lords Select Committee on Sport and Leisure. they are unlikely to go on having this effect. when he first used the term 'post-industrial society' in 1958. the Committee noted that 'Since 1945 there has been no consistent trend which can be projected with any certainty' (House of Lords Select Committee on Sport and Leisure. large numbers of persons had to confront the use of leisure rather than the drudgery of work. the inconsistency in post-war trends. It can hardly be said to have been a prophet of a leisure society.
(Kando. arguably. UTS. Leisure and Popular Culture in Transition (and it remained substantially unchanged in the second edition of the book. As Auden put it.He goes on to discuss the reasons why. secondly. Kando provides. to which he answers a 'qualified no'. or been prevented from. he notes how Americans have failed to. including the recognition of environmental constraints. J. In this environment. consumption and human relationships. all time has become an economic calculus.. who condemn its effects on work. While technology is seen to have provided the economic conditions for greater leisure. notably Ellul (see above). as opposed to bureaucratised consumption. and conversely. He concludes: The dilemma is this: the same elements that were instrumental in creating the prerequisites for leisure – a materialistic and aggressive civilization able to develop technology and willing to use it – are now the obstacles to reaping the logical and beneficial outcome of these conditions. an affluent material base. 1975: Thomas Kando. the most extensive critical analysis available of the leisure society concept. (Bell. a culture whose ideology is supportive of leisure may not be able to erect leisure's material foundation. and affluence would logically seem to produce the leisure society. the increasing constraints of time: The end of scarcity. 1980: 136) A. the increasing complexity of post-industrial societies. society's value system is such that the new status hierarchy places an increasing premium on work. Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society. However. has no use for leisure itself . In the end. it was believed – the leap from the kingdom of necessity – would be the freeing of time from the inexorable rhythm of economic life. the apparently insatiable desire for status and 'conspicuous consumption' and. had this opportunity been actualised. the society's economic structure – corporate capitalism – demands costly mass consumption and spectacular mass recreation rather than freedom in leisure. bureaucracy. First he asks whether the conditions had been created that could make widespread leisure possible. embracing genuine leisure. 1973: 475) Bell clearly does not endorse the idea of a utopian leisure society. most relevant to leisure studies. I told you so'.. The Doomsday scenario was. (Kando. brought about by a number of factors. It may be that a civilization capable of creating the conditions necessary for true leisure. this does not occur because of two developments. First. in futuristic commentary at the end of the 1960s. Bell states. cybernation. 2009 52 . Kando summarises a range of critics of other features of technological society. 1980: 15). At the conclusion of the first chapter of the book he declares: . to which he answers 'yes'. the coming of automation. He addresses two questions in regard to whether the United States of the 1970s was 'moving toward' the leisure society. following De Grazia (see above). published in 1980). USA: Toward a leisure society? 'Toward a leisure society?' is the title of a chapter in Thomas Kando's 1975 book. 'the vision of Utopia was suddenly replaced by the spectre of Doomsday'. Second. 'Time will say only.
1980: 61. who remain an élite. Keynes. Huizinga and Kahn et al. Gershuny (1980: 60-61) briefly traces the leisure society thesis through the writings of Veblen. when it was in full flower. A very curious reading of Dumazedier. which reaches its end point in the notion of post-materialist society. Recognition and encouragement of this sector would provide a solution to the emerging problems of the formal economy: . Instead it would seek to improve the quality of both work and leisure in the informal sector. and what is left is leisure. and even where it still seems to play it is false play' (Huizinga. J. education. Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society. kitchen equipment to cook meals. might become a viable alternative to employment in the formal sector. The 'dual economy' strategy would not seek to discourage the continuing drive for efficiency. the distinction between work and leisure might itself become less clearcut. (Gershuny. but with regard to Huizinga. Gershuny goes on to declare: One central strand of modern notions of the leisure society sees leisure activities as the residue. in the formal sector. 1980: 61) A. a reversion to an infantile state in which we just don't have to work' (Gershuny. while Veblen describes a process by which the middle and lower classes seek to emulate the wealthy leisure class lifestyle. Civilization to-day is no longer played. 1978: 151) The self-service economy is similar to Robertson's 'ownwork' ideas and Gorz's proposals for contracting out of the formal capitalist economy (see below). this does not admit them to the leisure class. As a result of this strategy the complex of activities including recreation. But. economic activity in the formal sector is increasingly concentrated in intermediate production – that is. Dumazedier and Kahn et al. equates them all with a view of the leisure society as 'hightechnology play' and with 'leisure as escape from responsibilities.. 2009 53 . We solve the economic problem. but that he discussed leisure time becoming 'more widely diffused across the society'. housework and other production activities which might in the future be transformed to the informal sector. 1950: 206). indeed. with accompanying unemployment. The home is therefore the location of the increasingly significant 'informal' sector of economic production.. Dumazedier. (Gershuny. simply what is left behind when we take away work. associating Homo Ludens with 'high-technology' play could hardly be more inappropriate: he adopts a highly philosophical and cultural approach to play and is even dismissive of modern sport (ie. There are connections with the concept of diminishing marginal utility of income. in 1944 when the first German edition was published) as unplayful. He concludes: 'More and more the sad conclusion forces itself upon us that the play-element in culture has been on the wane ever since the 18th century. since in this sector production and consumption activities are based on the same social unit [the household]. In a later publication. 1978: 136) in the formal economy. UK: After Industrial Society? The Self-service Economy In After Industrial Society? Jonathan Gershuny develops the thesis of the 'self-service economy' which is seen as a solution to a future with a 'high and unsustainable rate of technological unemployment' (Gershuny. are discussed above. UTS. as noted above. He does not specifically claim that Veblen envisaged a society of leisure as such. the society in which there is nothing left to work for. gardening tools to grow flowers and vegetables. He sees many of the consumer goods produced in the formal industrial economy as a form of capital goods used by households to implement the final stages of consumption – eg.1978: Jonathan Gershuny. Huizinga and Kahn et al. emphasis in the original). in the production of consumer durables which are in essence capital goods – and that these capital goods are invested in the informal sector of the economy for the production of final commodities. washing machines to wash clothes.
. Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society. conditions of greatly reduced work time and therefore increased leisure time are the starting point for consideration of the key issue of how people might and/or should spend their time in such conditions and for Dumazedier.While the considerations outlined might be described as a 'central strand' of leisure society thinking. at least. 2009 54 . A. J. UTS. For Keynes. Dumazedier and Kahn et al. the question of the associated political and social infrastructure. they would be more appropriately described as the starting point.
. edited B. A. Thus. is a collection of papers. peaked again at 10.. a new age had dawned. largely vindicated by a return to full employment in some countries in the new century. Instead. by authors from the social sciences and the humanities. As in the 1930s. • In a survey of Australian attitudes towards 'life priorities'. UTS. concerns similar to those of the 1930s emerged. passed 10% in 1981 and peaked at 11. namely how the reduced quantum of available work might be equitably shared to relieve unemployment. Dixon (1986) observed that productivity levels had not been increasing at a particularly fast pace over recent decades and that high unemployment was due to large increases in the labour force as a result of the maturation of the 'baby boomer' generation. All talk of continuing gradual reductions in working hours arising from growth and prosperity ceased. although with a higher level of unemployment than had been seen in the 1960s. The leisure society concept in the 1980s. as in the 1930s. Bruce Headey states: 'The two closely related domains of 'spare-time activities' and 'friends and friendships' contribute very 8 Unemployment in Britain rose to 5. such calls were largely ignored.9 As in the 1930s. which called for significant policy responses. Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society. there was no shortage of commentators willing to argue that. In general.7% in 1992 then fell below 5% in 2004. Added to these is the slow but steady emergence of an ethic of pleasure in personal values. G. resulting in inflation and rising unemployment. An exception to this was a critique by economist Peter Dixon on Australian commentator Barry Jones' view that technological change was responsible for increasing levels of unemployment in the 1980s.1 million people) in 1986.6. was. one exception being the paper by Novek (1985). predicated on the proposition that major social changes are in progress and in prospect. a position which. it fell to 7.1% in 1976. The editors begin with the statement: There is much talk in the leisure literature about the growth of 'leisure society' in postindustrial societies. the relatively high cost of labour and the aftermath of the oil price shocks of the 1970s. moving into the 1980s. '90s and 2000s Introduction The massive oil price increases in 1973 and 1977 caused shocks to the Western economic system. with the passage of time.5% (3. it is reasonable to assume that changes in discretionary time and the corresponding growth in recreation and leisure facilities and activities.1% in 1990. the arguments were generally ignored rather than actively countered. which will require significant adaptations in patterns of work and leisure and in values in advanced industrial societies and which will require greater breadth of vision than had been seen hitherto. the 21 contributed papers do not address the 'transitions' theme. With neither refutation nor endorsement. 2009 55 . Stanley and St Clair. born of technology. Passing references • Transitions to Leisure. Jay Stanley and Robert St Clair (1985). (Gunter. Gunter. J. it has stayed between 5% and 6% since 2005. in its own terms. 1985: 3) No specific references are given to the 'much talk in the leisure literature'. which is included as an entry below. for policymakers it was mostly 'business as usual'..
be equally the product of high investment and booms. we now stand on the threshold. partly as a result of the new industrial context and partly because of Jenkins's role as a high profile trade union leader (Sherman was the research officer in the same union). clerical and information methods in both the public and private sectors of the economy. 1981: 16). These books attracted considerable attention at the time of their publication. confirming earlier research that Australia is a leisureorientated society' (Headey. for the next few decades. was published in 1979. The term 'leisure society' is not used. in 1986. their precise thesis in regard to leisure is difficult to pin down. Unemployment. more provision of leisure facilities for the unemployed) or to avoid them (eg. UTS. In response to these circumstances. which has been synonymous with slumps and low investment will. of a new industrial revolution. Jenkins and Sherman saw the rapidly growing significance of leisure as delivering a similar shock.. because as with those two previous breakthroughs no production process will be immune from its impact. Jenkins and Sherman put forward a variety of proposals. described the situation in which Western society was faced with such rapid technological change that the effect was to shock society and its institutions. In The Leisure Shock they state: 'The shock comes from having to abandon an attachment to the work ethic' (Jenkins and Sherman. • The above quotation is the main source referred to by David Rowe leading him to assert: 'Australia does have both an internal and external reputation as a leisure society. based on developments in micro-electronics. Despite the broad sentiment of the books. which is implicit in their titles. Martin Neumeyer had stated that 'it has been pretty well established that no matter how complete the recovery may be we will never be able to make full-time jobs for the enture working population of the country' (quoted in Currell. indeed are just passing beyond that. 1988: 167-68). by Working at Leisure. it was followed by The Leisure Shock in 1981 and. in 1936. The Collapse of Work. by Sherman alone. Indeed it may even be more potent since it will affect not only processes and components but also commercial activities. but the terms 'leisure shock' and 'leisure revolution' are. Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society. J. (Jenkins and Sherman. and precisely what it would achieve is difficult to determine. 1993: 258) 1979-86: Clive Jenkins and Barrie Sherman. Whether the case for using such a term is effectively made is. UK: The Collapse of Work While Clive Jenkins and Barrie Sherman's book. 2005: 33). But how this is to come about.substantially to life satisfaction. It will have the most profound effect on jobs and employment prospects since the introduction of the electric motor and before that of the steam engine. however. increased investment in technology to create more jobs and reduce unemployment). 1979: viii) Such sentiments had last been expressed during the Great Depression – for example. This quantum leap in technology will accelerate the structural changes in the pattern of employment which have been steadily advancing over the past decade and will exert an immensely destructive impact on both existing jobs and the future supply of work. in spite of recent evidence that time devoted to leisure has on average decreased since the mid-1970s. In Working at Leisure Sherman devotes a chapter to the 'leisure revolution' intended to outline 'newly A.. particularly for women' (Rowe. debatable. Their analysis of work is clearer: while unemployment levels were already high. in the 1960s. 2009 56 . and office. The term 'leisure shock' pays homage to Alvin Toffler's 'future shock' which. this was not seen as a temporary situation: . designed either to adapt to the current and predicted circumstances (eg.
This review draws substantially on Veal (1987: 63ff).. 1980: 236). we need to develop a 'life ethic' rather than a work ethic and the corresponding concept of 'full life' rather than 'full employment'. (Clemitson and Rodgers. Ivor Clemitson and George Rodgers. we believe.. 1979: 41) Denis Pym. both the increase of affluence . all the trends and changes to which he refers – eg. 11 A. The new leisure ethic will be reflected in a trend towards three days of work and four days of play. detected a 'retreat from employment' in Britain and the emergence of a 'dual economy' in which the most appropriate ethic would be a 'resourcefulness ethic' (Pym. p. the need for formal work is but a perversion of this. 1981: 13) Roger Clarke. increased numbers of unemployed and elderly. (Jenkins and Sherman. which will receive equal if not greater attention than the work ethic. reductions in working hours. the true human condition. noting the rise in unemployment. so that the concept of usefulness rather than work must be the future ethic. used the term 'life ethic': In short. both individually and collectively. 185) Two Labour politicians.10 but rarely if ever referring to a leisure society as such. there will emerge the concept of a Contribution Ethic . That God is glorified through our 10 See footnote 8. UK: Replacing the Work Ethic During the 1980s. American Gary Gappert puts forward the concept of a 'leisure ethic'. but it is difficult to locate anything particularly new in his overview of leisure in Britain. UTS. would be more harmonious and would have fewer problems of the work ethic were either destroyed or reconstructed. argued for a 'usefulness' ethic: If it appears. (Gappert. changing shift-work patterns – had been in train for decades. In a brief exposition. would be happier. expected to emerge in the 1980s: In a somewhat paradoxical fashion. a worker priest. that society. then why should it not be done? . a number of commentators. Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society.. a life ethic would cease to see a person's only and major contribution to society as being made through his or her employment. Trades unionists Clive Jenkins and Barrie Sherman.. an economist.11 All but the first contribution listed. which is seriously challenged by the loss of the ideal of Full Employment. The need to be wanted is.. were from British commentators. 1981: 15. 45. 1979-89: Various authors. argued that one of the problems preventing adjustment of society and the economy to the new labour environment was the persistence of the Protestant work ethic and that some sort of new ethic was required.. referred to above. J. Some examples are outline below. and the rise of economic dislocations will lead to the evolution of a leisure ethic. 2009 57 .a belief that our humanity does find fulfilment in doing things for others. as we suggest that it does. Such an ethic would be concerned with the full development of human beings and human potential .emergent and different leisure needs'. coined the term 'contribution ethic': Perhaps out of the ashes of the Work Ethic.
longer holidays. It comprises retirement.. 2006). with pay. which might be personally productive like do-it-yourself. 2009 58 .. referred to below. André Gorz. a shorter working day. UTS. Transforming the Future Quality of Life: Rethinking Free Tim e and Work. did not give a name to an alternative to the work ethic. as noted above. 1982: 16) Finally. In fact.. I use the term 'non-work' deliberately. (Martin and Mason. become more work-orientated. of the freedom to be oneself. in the intervening 20-30 years the education system has. It removes the stigma which has become attached to compulsory idleness – unemployment giving the victim robbed of the use of his skills a demoralising sense of inadequacy. or writing. the idea of a leisure society is barely mentioned. It is heretical but it is logical . is manifested in some other way quite outwith the paid economy. self-determination. 1985: 107) Gorz's cautionary comment on the likely difficulty to be faced in seeking to displace the work ethic was clearly wise. the relative strength of the work ethic in different cultures remains a matter for debate (see Schor. one which recognises both the changing role of work and unemployment in the Western World and the parallel changes that are taking place in the amount and nature of our leisure . leisure forecasting consultants Bill Martin and Sandra Mason stated: Now at the end of the twentieth century. published in 1989.being of service to our fellows whether that be through employee/customer relationships in the paid economy or whether that service. UK: The New Leisure Society Roger Vickerman's 1980 paper is one of the examples of leisure society predictions referred to by Chris Gratton (1996). arguable. or music or physical recreation. (Gorz.. It is not slothfulness. (Clarke. and the fact that it was published in the journal Futures. called for a 'non-work ethic' in the following terms: What we need is a non-work ethic. the previous 200 years or so)' in order to 'understand . nor does it refer to such predictions by others. 1980: Roger Vickerman. that giving of ourselves. unemployment. It is usually called 'leisure'. addressing an education conference. doing what one wants to do. but argued for the abolition of the latter as follows: For 200 years or so societies have been dominated by the productivist ethic which has sanctified work as mortification and sacrifice. a new set of values is needed. Lord Ritchie-Calder. It will certainly not be an easy matter to destroy it and replace it with an ethic which privileges the values of voluntary cooperation. Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society. Despite the title of Vickerman's paper. redundancy. Vickerman states that the premise of the paper is to provide an 'analysis of a society with more leisure than in the recent past (ie. that deadly sin in terms of the work ethic. the economic problems A. or creative. like inventing or painting. such a new ethic should be based on a view of leisure as a part of life that is of value in its own right. J. On the other hand. a shorter working week. (Ritchie-Calder.. A number of the above commentators placed their faith in education as a vehicle for achieving such change but. 1982: 196) In a paper on the development of a 'leisure ethic'. creativity and the quality of our relations with each other and with nature. it does not predict a leisure society. as a renunciation of life and pleasure.. 1984: 1) Martin and Mason elaborated on this approach in a follow-up study. if anything.
1980: 197) The conclusions of the paper do not mention leisure. (Vickerman. Paths to Paradise: on the Liberation from Work (1985) and Reclaiming Work: Beyond the Wage-based Society (1999) – in which he argued that.. involving selfhelp. given the highly productive nature of modern industry. it anticipated that this would release workers to engage not in leisure activities but in the 'informal economy'. UTS. He notes that historically. 1981: Ecology Party. distributed over all those willing and able to work. J. Maybe this is an indication that economists' puritanism is only a reflection of a wider view held by society.. the struggle between capital and labour has been about freedom and autonomy and that workers could now achieve this by partially contracting out of the formal labour market. France: Farewell to the Working Class During the 1980s and '90s. 2009 59 . 1982: 121-2) Gorz' concept of a 'multi-activity' existence is in effect a politicised version of Robertson's 'ownwork' and Gershuny's 'self-service economy'. will thus cease to be anyone's exclusive or leading activity. He makes a single reference to a 'society of leisure': It seems unlikely that there will be a return to the pleasures of the table and the bed on the same scale as enjoyed by our more leisured forefathers in the late 18th century. the present social order. (Vickerman.which face us'. The manner in which the abolition of work is to be managed and socially implemented constitutes the central political issue of the coming decades. (Gorz. voluntary and community activity. French sociologist André Gorz published a series of books – Farewell to the Working Class (1982). without spelling out the concept of a leisure society as such. the formal capitalist economy and still live comfortably. Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society. carried out not for money but for the interest. Basically. UK: Working for a Future While the UK Ecology Party of the early 1980s envisaged that technology was likely to reduce labour requirements and working hours in the formal economy. of acquiring information about alternative technologies will certainly increase. pleasure or benefits involved. and dependence on. of leisure as idleness. The outlines of a society based on the free use of time are only beginning to appear in the interstices of. They declared: A. but the right to 'live more' . its watchword may be defined as: let us work less so that we may all work and do more things for ourselves in our free time. the working class could substantially reduce its labour input to. 1980: André Gorz. Socially useful labour. Instead people's major occupation may be one or a number of self-defined activities. and possibly the desirability. he explores the implications of increasing leisure time. But the aim is not a society of leisure: The demand to 'work less' does not mean or imply the right to 'rest more'. and in opposition to. 1980: 196) And there is just a single reference to a 'leisure society': In a leisure society the range of choice desired will not necessarily increase but the opportunity. but refer to the need for education to enable people to cope with change resulting from the transition to a post-industrial society.
based on trends since the 1880s. he opens with a reference to anonymous. In 1987 Kelly published a volume. political and environ-mental uncertainties which surround any discussion of the future of leisure. predictions of falling working hours. Recreation Trends: Toward the Year 2000. globalization meant that change in the USA was constrained by the nature and pace of change in the rest of the world. USA: Leisure and the Future 'Leisure and the future' is the title of a chapter in John Kelly's textbook. unsourced predictions: A number of exotic scenarios for the future of leisure in a technologized tomorrow have been written. had not come about. In fact. without a relative loss of conventionally assessed income. and soil pollution are temporary and will be overcome by new technologies. which presumably refers to reduced working hours envisaged in 'leisure age' scenarios. Kelly offers a six-point explanation of why the 'leisure age' had not come about as predicted. 3. (Ecology Party. 2009 60 . (Kelly. and productivity will keep economics from actualizing whatever is technically possible. However. with weekly working hours levelling off at 40 and rising cyclical unemployment since the 1960s. They further project the emergence of a new consciousness that will embrace leisure as worthwhile in its own right. 1987: 1) No references were given to the fashionable forecasts referred to. nor the phoney substitutes that people use to measure wealth today. predicted rates of economic growth in the USA had not materialised (see Kahn and Wiener above). this would reduce the demand on material resources. The notion that technological advances will provide an opportunity to increase the amount of leisure time. Kelly's arguments apply to economic growth generally. The chapter explores the many social. In it he sets out to debunk the idea of a leisure society. not just to growth devoted to production of leisure-related consumer goods. raw material. is sadly mistaken. neither real wealth. Kelly. he refers to 'reduced productivity' of the 'leisure age'. but seems to fail to recognise the converse. Leisure itself does not create wealth. All assume that no limits in energy resources. Leisure. The possible conflict between the production of endless consumer resources for leisure and the reduced productivity of a 'leisure age' are seldom mentioned. which comprised. But in the introduction he stated: It was fashionable in the 1950s and 60s to forecast a fast-approaching 'leisure age' in which the former domination of productive work would give way to lifestyles with more free time and emphasis on nonwork activity.We need therefore to be suspicious of those who push the 'self-evident' merits of a selfsustaining post-industrial 'Leisure Society'. (Kelly. the future of leisure was defined as a problem by many who were sure that demand would overwhelm resources and that many workers would be unprepared to use this abundant time constructively. J. water. 1981: 18) 1982: John R. for the most part. UTS. They ignore political and social conflicts and assume that problems such as air. Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society. projections of US demand for specific leisure activities aimed at the professional reader. 1982: 276) Of course. 1. A. As is common. that if a society were to devote the dividend from increased productivity to increased leisure time rather than increased production. 2.
and effectual time use (including leisure studies). 4. Education based on the personal needs of each individual rather than the industrial needs of the community. 3. 1982/1995: 205-6) It seems that the superfluous 'unskilled and semi-skilled' are not expected to 'pursue the arts. We may face the problem of adjusting to an inversion of that historic model – a social pyramid of which the top part largely comprises a skilled meritocracy which works hard for high wages. the eighth education-related recommendation is: Emphasises education as a means of achieving self-knowledge. 1982/1995: 247) It is suspected that 'leisure studies' here refers to 'education for leisure' rather than the academic study of leisure. other calls on time use increased. most gains in non-work time were absorbed by at-home activities rather than by 'organized recreation'. built. The 'lower orders' supported them by providing routine services. travelled. some Italian city states during the Renaissance. 2. while the reshaping of work. garden and discuss politics and history'. J. personal development. (Jones. The subtitle of his Sleepers Wake is Technology and the Future of Work. (Jones. including falling working hours. notably travel time. is the focus of his study. although this is not explicitly canvassed either way. 1982/1995: 206-7) In regard to item 1 Jones discusses the concept of a 'guaranteed minimum income and national superannuation'. regarding education. In his final chapter. gardened. Recognition that work need no longer be the primary mechanism for the redistribution of wealth. 'What is to be done?'. Rather. (Jones. Thus. Item 2. and the lower part consists of the unskilled and semi-skilled who live in a condition of involuntary and unsought leisure because routine and repetitive work has been eliminated or significantly reduced. France under Louis XIV and the Netherlands for much of the eighteenth century – the privileged classes pursued the arts. Encouraging individuals to recognise the value of individually determined time use. His single reference to anything like a 'leisure society' appears under the heading 'IQ and an age of leisure?'. four 'moves on the part of society' are seen as immediately necessary: 1. travel. hunt. Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society. and discussed politics and history. UTS. data on average working hours hides the wide variation in working hours. hunted. the strengthening of self-image and creativity. the implications for leisure are hinted at rather than seriously explored. 2009 61 . where education for the 'inner life' was extolled. 5. and place less emphasis on education for vocational or specialist purposes which can be picked up relatively quickly. Developing new forms of participation and recognition. With a diagrammatic representation. 6. had previously been discussed in a whole chapter. especially in the growing service sector. he states: In past golden ages of leisure – including Periclean Athens. 1982: Barry Jones. Australia: Sleepers Wake! Barry Jones was Minister for Science in the Australian federal government during the 1980s.4. A. build.
. He does not explicitly provide any further advice on the conditions which would signal the arrival of the leisure society. as reflecting 'The 'new leisure class' image coming out of recent social enquiry' (p.. 1983: 101). 102). a broadening of social options. . But rather than rejecting this scenario. 1983: 97). Friedmann. nevertheless enjoying the emerging workleisure-consumption balance. it is a particularly effective tool for instilling the values of social conformity plus self-correction. 1983: Otto Newman. he rejects it. Marcuse and others. but rather one of the prime instruments for social control.. is one with high levels of unemployment. 102). But the latter observation appears to be based on the advent of 'mass unemployment'. he sees leisure in contemporary society as consumption-related and: . alcoholism. but such enquiry is not referenced. Thus. on two grounds. and adds: Many social problems – vandalism. 2009 62 . would it be good or bad for hours to be reduced to 20 in the last quarter of the 20th Century? To many. for all the 'fun morality' it tends to project. not the supreme vehicle for self-actualization. in his chapter on education Jones sees 'time budgeting: self-management of time' as one of 22 'challenges' for education. the 'leisure compensation' thesis and. J. however. apparently. arguing that its emergence should be addressed by a 'thoroughgoing normative revaluation': The historically ingrained 'work ethic' must make way for a 'leisure ethos' incorporating a greater emphasis on leisure experience. people the answer would be 'bad'. 102). as is widely projected. (Newman. but they are nevertheless 'caught up in the incipient leisure explosion' and 'appear as the forerunners of the leisure society to come' (p. perhaps most. since work is the major factor in determining who they are. Newman appears to slip into prescriptive mode. He suggests that only the middle class have the resources to enjoy this lifestyle. violence. like the earlier authors. If it was a good thing in the 19th Century for weekly working hours to be reduced from 80 to 60. drug dependence. a leisure society is defined as one in which people enjoy the new leisure class lifestyle which was being enjoyed by members of the middle classes in Britain in the early 1980s. and a shift away from activism or the intensive A. explored further. So. discipline and authority starts to look ridiculous. Indeed. by inference. under this definition. Second.If work contracted sharply. he refers to those who are. loneliness.. So a 'leisure society'. 'To rank the working classes as equal members of 'leisure society' is clearly absurd' (p. though the breakthroughs of technology are bringing it very close' (Newman. conforming to 'technological' values and hence. the acknowledgement that non-work is a worthwhile activity. First. suicide – are closely related to boredom and the inability to cope with the self-management of time. because if the next step was to be a reduction to 10 or 5 hours then the whole structure of order. (Jones.Regarding item 3. what then? There is an urgent social need to encourage a philosophy of 'time-use value'. In the first part of the paper he explores. the prospect of major reductions in time spent at work threatens many people. as referred to above. UK: The Coming of a Leisure Society? Otto Newman begins the abstract of this essay with the following: 'It may be too early to speak of the advent of a leisure society. Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society. UTS. but without any reference to them or any other sources on the matter. and in the first half of the 20th Century from 60 to 40. 1982/1995: 209-10) The issue is not. The working classes are excluded from this. Accordingly.
1983: 103) The implications are for the emergence of a leisure society which includes a portion of the middle classes and the employed section of the working classes. earlier in the paper. the acceptance of the concept of permanent part-time work 3. shows that his work-centred vision of the post-industrial society does not include an enhanced role for leisure. appeared in Volume 1. He uses Daniel Bell as an example of the former and. Number 1. The 'convivial' view of post-industrialism refers to what we have here termed the 'self-service economy'. Newman rejects both of these scenarios on the grounds that 'the emergence of the leisure ethos as a partner to the work ethic seems unavoidable' – even though. J. so it could be that these definitional implications are intended to be his summary of the results of following the logic of the leisure society thesis as propounded by others. will be the source of social instability. He therefore concludes: We will. with total employment rising as follows: 1983: 2000: 2006: 6.. but on page 50 of the same issue. Robertson. who would enjoy the 'new leisure class' lifestyle. flexibility of work patterns .12 1983: Phillip Ruthven. a 4-day week becoming the normal full-time working week 2. the' work-centred' and the 'convivial'. as quoted above. Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society. immediately following Newman's article is a promotion for the journal listing the 'Contents of Volume 1. move to change work patterns. an increase in the proportion of our workforce in part-time work from one in six workers to one in five at the end of the century 4. 1983a) under the title 'Leisure and social change'. Beck). or. 1983' where the article is listed with the title 'The coming of the leisure society'.6 million (7 million full-time) 10. including 'a shift away from activism'. In his conclusions Newman argues that the leisure society thesis is flawed because it occurs within a 'sociological vacuum'.3 million (5. The second part of the paper presents a critique of two variations on the 'post-industrial thesis'. Australia: Future Economic and Social Environment In his contribution to a government-sponsored National Seminar on leisure. On present evidence this is a highly remote prospect. if this doesn't work out. A. he argues that this is a 'remote prospect'. UTS. therefore. Gershuny. and a large section of permanently unemployed working class who will be content with their lot on the basis of newly imbued values. consultant Phillip Ruthven observes: 'The emergence of new industries (including growth in leisure and other industries) cannot fully employ the extra three million persons seeking work in sixteen years time at the end of the century'. Number 1 of Education and Society (Newman.revaluation of it. (Ruthven 1983: 117) Ruthven's predictions of the inability of the Australia economy to absorb labour proved incorrect. as noted above. but since he provides no references to such proponents. it is difficult to be sure.2 million full-time) 9.6 million part-time) (Source: ABS Social Trends). 2009 12 63 . A version of Newman's paper. in which unpaid work rather than leisure absorbs future reductions in paid work (see Toffler. (Newman. the dismantling of the now anachronistic penalty rates pay system 5. Such developments will include: 1.6 million (7.. which is virtually word-for-word identical to the Leisure Studies paper. if only in the interest of social stabilization. Gorz. yet it is essential.
and 1 in 3. 1983: Tom Stonier. In the 'leisure scenario' Handy concentrates on the model of a professional/managerial elite working full-time. will be a feature of this new age' (Ruthven 1983: 130).5 by 2006. 30 hours x 42 weeks x 40 years) spread across the whole workforce. Seeing Green.000 hour working life (eg. He discusses four alternative scenarios for dealing with an excess of labour in the future: the unemployment. in which Stonier proposes a 10 per cent reduction in weekly working hours every five years. His preferred 'work' scenario (described in a single paragraph) appears to involve an increase in voluntary and self-service work. with the majority living a life of leisure. and adds: A. Jonathan Porritt.Regarding his other predictions: • • • • the 4-day week clearly did not come about. comments critically on the Labour Party's proposals to 'create millions of jobs' in Britain through government expenditure programs. 29 by 1995. Ruthven outlines a series of future leisure 'lifestyle'-related developments. UK: The Future of Work In The Future of Work Charles Handy (1984) considered the prospects for employment in an environment where unemployment in Britain was running at over 10%. permanent part-time work was probably no more common in 2000 than it had been in 1983. 32½ by 1990. a range of education policies. 1983: 158). 1984: Jonathan Porritt. Leisure. UK: The Wealth of Information Stonier develops the thesis that information is emerging as the basic commodity of thepostindustrial society.000 hour working life (eg. a 'New Deal' type of major government investment in infrastructure. Such solutions include: policies to aid workforce mobility. for the most part unquantified. Just one page is devoted to the last idea. and the workforce could be said to be more 'flexible' as a result of measures taken by both the Labor government of 1982-96 and the Liberal government of 1996-2007. 23½ by 2005 and 21 by 2010' (Stonier. At no point does he predict. 1984: 179). Like many commentators at the time he predicted that 'The full-employment equation of full-time. the 'penalty rates system (for working unsocial hours) had largely been dismantled. development of the tourism and food export industries. employment and work scenarios. UTS. While at various points in the book he discusses the idea of a trend from the current 100. CEO of Friends of the Earth and leading member of the UK Ecology Party. Writing at a time of high unemployment in the UK. Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society. 1984: Charles Handy. but describes this as 'hopelessly unrealistic'. leisure. in its plethora of forms. He stops short of predicting a 'leisure society' but concludes: 'The post-industrial era will ultimately yield a higher standard of living for all. the idea of a future leisure society. life-time jobs for all at good rates of pay is not viable' (Handy. UK: Seeing Green In his 1984 book. developing London as the 'office capital' of the world. 26 by the year 2000. 2009 64 . 40 hours x 48 weeks x 52 years) to a 50. At no point does he discuss the leisure implications of such changes. J. so difficult to test. he also addresses the problems of displaced labour and alternative solutions for Britain to cope with the consequent unemployment. resulting in 'a standard 36-hour week by 1985. and work sharing. he does not discuss the leisure implications of this scenario. but the proportion of part-time employees was 1 in 4. let alone welcome.
if substantial economic growth ever does come back as we still understand it. 1984: 68) Later. Westernized money economy lord it over those stuck in the traditional subsistence economy.. Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society. UK: Future Work James Robertson wrote Future Work at a time. UTS. . and pays no attention to all the problems of how the social and psychological functions of work are to be reinterpreted in this brave new technological world of ours. and that increasing numbers of people could live lives of leisure. (Porritt. First.. To call such a society a 'postindustrial society' is quite absurd: for it is no more than the terminus of industrialism. Porritt predicts that the formal economy will see increasing numbers of 'impoverished and demoralized unemployed'. the competitive pressures of international trade. but the leisure of poverty and political subservience. the dominance of a bureaucratic elite. and the imperatives of dehumanized materialism. Most conventional politicians and economists still seem to claim. In the industrialised countries as a whole the number runs into tens of millions. says no less an authority than Clive Jenkins [trade union official – see above]. where those fortunate enough to be part of a modern. where technological determinism finally replaces the political process. clearly suggest that. is what people really mean when they talk about the 'leisure society'. To me. The impact of labour-saving technology. whether it is run as an 'extension of the welfare state' or by a 'capitalist technocracy'.. It will not be the leisure of affluence that awaits us. The split between work and leisure would be accentuated. But year by year. either towards meeting their own needs or towards meeting those 13 See footnote 8 for details of trends in unemployment in Britain. though with diminishing assurance. many people without employment would resist the idea that they were expected to make no useful contribution. (Porritt. 'We do not believe that work per se is necessary to human survival or self-esteem'. including: . the mega-fantasy of the 'leisure society'. if not downright deception. such a society bears an uncanny resemblance to the 'dual economies' of the Third World. that their particular policies will bring back full employment in the long run. 2009 65 . I suspect. For third world countries the situation is even worse. centralized economic and political power. 1985: 1)13 Robertson rejects the idea that leisure can replace work in people's lives: The idea that in a post-employment society employment could be largely replaced by leisure activities. and the reluctance of taxpayers to finance more public service jobs. This. when unemployment in Western economies had been obstinately high for a number of years. out comes the big one. The book opens with the following observations: In Britain today. These two systems would have much in common. is open to serious question from two points of view.. 1984: 132) 1985: James Robertson.. J. an obsession with technology as a panacea for life's ills. A. several million people are unemployed. much of it is likely to be jobless growth. more and more people see these claims as utopian wishful thinking. (Robertson. and without work how would people be able to afford leisure? Enforced leisure on an inadequate income is a most unattractive proposition. in the early 1980s.And when scorn is rightly poured on this fantastical hotch-potch.
Major modifications in economic organisations are. having been denied access to conventional employment through automation. J.. Second. Many of those at leisure would in fact use their time for useful activities of many kinds.. Gershuny. they would find ways of working on their own account.. thus taking over the central cultural importance of work. must increase in the next half century. In other words. contribution to the debate as follows: Leisure. For the foreseeable future. (Robertson. 1985: 24-26) 'Ownwork' is Robertson's solution to the failure of the formal economy to return to full employment: it is a combination of voluntary and self-servicing work. and nearly everybody will spend an additional period active in the informal economy or performing domestic tasks. to produce the demise of the centrality of human labour in the industrial economy.of other people.. Finally. noting its decline since the 1970s. On this point we have little positive evidence A. not leisure. The question of how to finance the leisure of the unemployed in a leisure society would thus be a difficult one. to provide useful goods and services for themselves and for one another. 1985: 39-40) 1985: Joel Novek. one thing is sure. the greater part of the population will spend the greater part of their lives in paid employment. if anything resembling the leisure society did come about. (Rose. neither of which appears certain or even probably from the present vantage point. for example. it is said. than the hope of an eventual return to full employment. . 2009 66 . in which the fruits of technological abundance are distributed to individuals in the form of greatly expanded leisure time plus substantial new income transfers? The answer is that we can but only if we make two assumptions. The second assumption is that a large proportion of the population in the industrial nations. But Novek expresses scepticism: Can we envision the kind of Paradise . This had been accompanied by calls for a social wage. 1978). UTS. which was expected. into an ownwork society.. will be able to make constructive use of their new-found leisure time. independent of any contribution of labour to the economy. The first assumption is that governments in advanced industrial countries will demonstrate a commitment to initiate far more comprehensive redistributive policies than are currently in force. at least to some extent. . occurring. whether enforced or chosen. In short.. UK: Re-working the Work Ethic Michael Rose makes a brief. He then notes a new phase of commentary and analysis associated with the rise of information technology. with rising concerns about the environmental effects of growth and technological unemployment. A leisure society would automatically transform itself. . USA: Is the Automated Paradise Possible? Joel Novek provides a brief historical overview of 'technological optimism'. and were merely expected to keep themselves amused and out of trouble. This is fashionable nonsense. but their consequences will be debated primarily in relation to work. the prospect of moving towards a leisure society cannot be accepted as providing any more realistic a solution to the present crisis of unemployment and work. finally. of course. many of the people still in employment would resent the idea that they were expected to support large numbers of idle drones.. from John Maynard Keynes (see above) onwards. Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society.. similar to that put forward by proponents of the 'self-service economy' (see. 1985: Michael Rose. but pithy.
more important. My rather inelegant comment on this list was: 'Apart from items 11 and 13 (which one would have thought would have remained largely in the tertiary sector). as occupation entered into in contrast to it for relaxation and pleasure. is far from the proposition that leisure may become a primary purpose of our lives. is presented. gains our acquiescence in necessary changes. is noted. Leisure. Leisure and the Future (Veal. paid work/education. The leisure society – with all its aristocratic associations – belongs securely to the future. sleep and personal/ domestic tasks. 1987: A. Veal. in an analysis of contemporary life-time allocations of time to leisure. 3) . The predictions of a future leisure society to which he refers come not from Seabrook but from unnamed others: Leisure as time taken from work. The main experience of leisure is of a particular absence of work.to guide us. (Novek. with minimal income. The three groups (apart from children) who have the most leisure now are the rich. the change in Kenneth Roberts' views over time. 1985: 241-42). entrepreneurs who have A. sentiments of alienation and social isolation will surely increase as individuals are deprived of the opportunity for socially productive activity. crime and family breakdown linked to contemporary patterns of involuntary unemployment. analysts mainly concerned with redistributing income to the unemployed tend to ignore is that work is not only a source of remuneration for most people but is a primary mechanism of social participation and integration. These are. UTS... 1988: Jeremy Seabrook.. UK: Leisure and the Future In my own book. showing that leisure accounted for between 27% and 31% of time while paid work/education accounted for only between 12% and 17% for full-time workers. It is worth noting that the most persuasive advocates of the leisure society are themselves in little danger of finding themselves suddenly bereft of function. is often discussed as though it were anticipated free time: certainly for those who work there has been little decrease in the actual number of hours worked. I mention the idea of a leisure society at two points. (p. for the most part.. So why not go the whole hog and call it the 'leisure society'?' (Veal. 1987). J. We see problems of alcoholism. This is illustrated with examples of the long working hours of the past. drug abuse. as discussed above . busy economists and futurologists.. 1987: 61). 2) . the retired and the redundant . this is entirely a list of leisure activities. Without this integrative mechanism in people's lives. 1). 200 years hence. as discussed above. Herman Kahn's concept of 'quaternary activities' predicted for the future. it eases painful transitions and.. First.. The evidence we do have mainly points in the negative direction. The promise of a leisure society acts as a comfort and distraction in a present that is often hard to bear. then. Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society. What . Our natural suspicion of this sudden reversal is intensified by the exhortations that we must also work harder. in a short section entitled 'A post-industrial leisure society?'. such as that of children in the nineteenth century working 72 hours a week in a steelworks. I then add: 'But compared with the lives of some of our forebears the lives we lead now could be described as lives of leisure' (p. The proposition is supported quantitatively later in the book. become competitive in the markets of the world. Proposals for a leisure-based utopian society which are to merit serious consideration must come to terms with the need for alternative mechanisms of social participation. (p. increase productivity.. UK: The Leisure Society In The Leisure Society Jeremy Seabrook (1988) adopts a sceptical stance towards his subject. Later in the book. J. a caricature of the ease and comfort which the fluent proponents of the leisure society hold out to us. 2009 67 .
additional remuneration [over and above a 'national guaranteed income'] would depend on the type of work an individual performs. so does not write in an academic style. In the paragraph from which the last quotation is taken. USA: The Jobless Future As noted above. even informally. Everyone would assume the responsibilities of producing and maintaining public goods. but. in their book The Jobless Future. . This is why those of us who are sceptical of its liberating possibilities – who suspect that it is yet another mechanism whereby economic processes that are increasingly disarticulated from human need may survive – must be able to offer living versions of how we propose to transcend these plausible versions of a future leisure society. Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society.. (p. They seem to place much more emphasis on 'quasi work' than on leisure.. and earlier retirement imply that most of us should never work anything like 'full time' as measured by the standards of the industrializing era. This implies that the advantages that were once the prerogative of a small minority are now going to be extended to all the people. longer vacations.. anti-materialist. there are only 16 such references in the whole book.considerable stakes in leisure industries .. Rojek (2000: 48) attributes the idea of a leisure society to Aronowitz and DiFazio. It has not been possible to find the expression 'leisure society' or 'society of leisure' in this book. But shorter working days. (Seabrook. 1988) Seabrook discusses Veblen's concept of a 'leisure class' and notes that: The existence of such a class has been replaced in recent years by the promise of a more generalized 'leisure society'. Finally.. (Aronowitz and DiFazio. for children. (Seabrook. Thus at no time does he indicate. UTS. a UK-based organisation. with detailed references to the literature: indeed.. and the authors' prescriptions for life in the 'jobless future' stop well short of such an idea. these two do not espouse the idea of a 'leisure society'. simple way of life. veers in the direction of 'leisure education'. who the proponents of the leisure society are. 1994: Stanley Aronowitz and William DiFazio. The path-finders of a leisure-dominated future are in no danger themselves of being overwhelmed by an excess of it. as the following passage suggests: If there is work to be done. Seabrook states: The promise of leisure is industrial society's response to all the contesting visions that have been evolving since the 1960s. 4) (Seabrook. as proposed by the 'Life Style Movement'. as noted above. 1988: 182) The 'living version' offered by Seabrook is an 'alternative'. now apparently defunct. Seabrook refers to Charles Handy and André Gorz as authors who have predicted reductions in the lifetime number of hours people will be required to be involved in the formal labour force. It belongs securely to the growth-and-expansion dynamic of capitalist society and it is an appealing prospect to people whose lives have for so long been shaped by labour. so no able citizen would be freed of the obligation to work. which was devoted to developing of simpler lifestyles which made less use of the earth's resources. leisure-related and work-like activities: A. but then seems to prescribe a mix of only vaguely defined. 1988: 9) Seabrook is a journalist. J. [but] . 1994: 353) A curious passage concerning new roles for the social services. everyone should do some of it. 2009 68 .
for the first time. for example. booming global commerce. the seminal issue of the coming age. A new generation of sophisticated information and communication technologies is being hurried into a wide variety of work situations. in the more conventional science fiction sense. the question of the utilization of idle time is going to loom large over the political landscape. Intelligent machines are replacing human beings in countless tasks. would shift their emphasis from work toward solving problems. Our corporate leaders and mainstream economists tell us that the rising unemployment figures represent short-term 'adjustments' to powerful market-driven forces that are speeding the global economy into a Third Industrial Revolution. Millions of working people remain skeptical. human labor is being systematically eliminated from the production process.. exploring possibilities. space and time themselves become objects both of knowledge and. (Rifkin. and concludes: With millions of Americans facing the prospect of working fewer and fewer hours in the formal market sector in the coming years. lifelong learning. 2009 69 . avocations. Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society. prescriptively as well as analytically. 1995: 235) By ' non-market criteria for organizing of social life' Rifkin is referring to the increased role for the 'third sector' or voluntary sector of society. J. breadlines. education and social work would expand and be paid for through general tax levies. and artisanship take on a new significance as they become possible for all people. (Rifkin. at a time when 'the ranks of unemployed and underemployed' were 'growing daily in North America. and unprecedented material abundance. 1995: 3) While acknowledging Juliet Schor's findings on the static or increasing level of working hours of American workers over the previous 40 years. forcing millions of blue and white collar workers into unemployment lines. 5).. small business. USA: The End of Work Jeremy Rifkin's The End of Work was written in the early 1990s. UTS.. School curricula. and finding new ethical and social meaning. which he sees as increasing in importance and thus absorbing time released from formal employment: A. The transition from a society based on mass employment in the private sector to one based on nonmarket criteria for organizing of social life will require a rethinking of the current world view. (Aronowitz and DiFazio. assuming a new perspective on 'jobs' and the division of labor. 1994: 353-54) 1995: Jeremy Rifkin. or worse still. 'mass' work in the market sector is likely to be phased out in virtually all of the industrialized nations of the world. Redefining the role of the individual in society absent of mass formal work is. but. travel. and worldwide. Concomitantly. he observes: Now. perhaps. Consequently. movement to reduce working hours and restore worklife balance. athletics. what people do with their time. We suppose this would lead to a revival of what has become known as 'leisure studies': psychologists and sociologists would study. Europe and Japan' (p.Services such as health care. Rifkin produces an array of evidence to suggest that there is an American. Within less than a century. and science would assume a more central place in the curriculum and there would be a renewed emphasis on the aesthetic as well as the vocational aspects of traditional crafts. They hold out the promise of an exciting new world of high-tech automated production. of personal and social exploration. art. In a reprise of some of the sentiments expressed by commentators in the 1930s. and with increasing numbers of unskilled Americans unable to secure any work at all in the automated high-tech global economy. could concentrate on broadening students' cultural purview: music. not just the middle and upper classes.
dissolves the core values of the work society. If massive unemployment of a kind unknown in history were to occur as a result of the sweeping replacement of machines for human labor. shorter workweeks. 2000: 1). more leisure time will exist than at any other period of modern history. (Rifkin. characterised by high levels of unemployment. with shared commitments to each other. layoffs. 1999/2000: Ulrick Beck. Whether their 'free' time will be coerced. The United States economy showed a remarkable ability to absorb labour. writing from a European perspective. The free time could be used to renew the bonds of community and rejuvenate the democratic legacy. in the countries of the West. the community. 4.9 million in 2008. welfare state and democracy' (Beck.9% to 6. He presents 10 'future scenarios of work' which have been put forward by others and a final favoured one of his own: 1. Ulrick Beck. Thus 'As global capitalism. 2009 70 .2% in 2000 (Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics). 7. the knowledge society capitalism without work the neoliberal jobs miracle fixed location of work – a globalization of risk sustainable work – the ecological miracle global apartheid the self-employed – freedom of insecurity individualization of work – disintegration of society multi-activity society free-time society post-national and political civil society. A new generation might transcend the narrow limits of nationalism and begin to think and act as common members of the human race. 11. and the larger biosphere.. having bottomed at 4. with the employed labour force growing from 126. a growing number of people around the world will be spending less time on the job and have more time on their hands.. 9. the latter are people 'evicted from the labour process' who will be 'increasingly "degraded" by the culture industries into "entertainment patients totally in need of care"' (pp. instead. while the unemployment rate grew barely at all. 'the Brazilianization of the West'. involuntary. 10. then the chances of developing a compassionate and caring society and a world view based on transformation of the human spirt are unlikely. 1995: 248) While Rifkin's predictions refer to the next 100 years. allowing workers to benefit from increases in productivity with shorter workweeks and adequate income. in the short term they were off the mark. J. If. 5. describes what he terms. 61-2).0%. in the same period. an enlightened course is pursued. part-time work and insecurity (Beck. This involves a move from traditional full-time employment to the 'patchwork quilt of the South'. with the poor lashing out at each other as well as at the rich elites who control the global economy. a historical bond is broken between capitalism. Germany: The Brave New World of Work In The Brave New World of Work.5 million in 1995 to 146. The more likely course would be widespread social upheaval. 6. and better income remains to be worked out in the political arena. a new class division will emerge between the active and the passive'. and open warfare. and unemployment. UTS. 2000: 1). Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society.In the future. A. first published in German in 1999. In this scenario he envisages ' a real danger that . violence on an unprecedented scale. 3. 8. Beck does not provide references to any proponents of the 'free-time society'. or leisure made possible by productivity gains. 2. from 5. and the result of forced part-time work.
simply points to the ambivalence in the concept of 'we' in the initial question: the 'leisure society' idea is always seen as a feature of developed/post-industrial societies. Tribe concludes: We are surrounded by the symbols and signals of a Leisure Society. This is the horizon and the programmatic essence of the idea of civil labour . Our economic circumstances surely permit us to live in a Leisure Society. UTS. The Economics of Recreation. Time seems ever more at a premium.. . diversity and accessibility of leisure experiences available we do not appear to be a Society of Leisure. This leaves insufficient time for participation in the politics of leisure and decisions about what kind of Leisure Society we want to create. J. compulsory leisure might easily become hell on earth' (p.. it is not clear how it is related to the leisure society idea. Item 2a. The question as to whether leisure is becoming more solitary or more social. he addresses the question: 'Have we become a leisure society?' He describes the recent growth of commercial leisure products and industries. Perhaps as leisure has displaced religion it has also become the new opium of the people. related to the process of globalization (although). b. For despite the obvious richness. 2. the lack of leisure in develop-ing countries. . the involuntary leisure of the unemployed and poverty.. 2000: 125) 2005: John Tribe.' (Beck. notably in entertainment and tourism. Rather we are a frenetic society that not only still works remarkably hard but now plays hard too. The 'unleisurely' nature of much modern leisure – a reference to Linder's 'harried leisure class' (see above). Leisure and Tourism (2005: 71-75) John Tribe presents a brief discussion entitled: 'Trends in work and leisure: a leisure society?' Using Joffre Dumazedier as a starting point (see Section 2 above). club work and voluntary work are prized alongside paid work and returned to the centre of public and academic attention. but highlights certain paradoxes.. Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society..He argues that the 'leisure society which appears alongside the work society . Individualism versus massification. 2009 71 . is described as follows: The counter-model to the work society is based not upon leisure but upon political freedom. (Tribe. time poor' developed world. namely: a. but asserts that 'leisure and play are unthinkable without work (or anyway without social activity). Beck's favoured solution. like the last item. That we do not always claim our leisure or feel the full pleasure of it is due partly to personal and partly to political choices. 62). We are not a calm or contemplative society. 2005: 74-75) A. it is a multi-activity society in which housework.. The problems implicit in the idea that a 'Leisure Society' implies 'leisure for all'. 4.. In the absence of activity. the communitarian-sounding 'post-national and political civil society'. 1. family work. ambivalent data concerning working hours in the 'money rich. Those who wish to escape the spell of the work society must enter political society (in a new historical meaning of the term) – a society that gives material form to the idea of civil rights and transnational civil society. should rediscover and develop "the art of squandering time"' (p.. It is the latter which must cause some worry. 3. UK: Trends in work and leisure: a leisure society? In his textbook. and thereby democratizes and gives new life to democracy. Where we used to work and pray we now work and play. The first of these seems to be an empirical question rather than a paradox and. 62). and c.
A. 2009 72 . To some extent this reflects Newman's view (see above) of the 'new leisure class'. the creative artists uses holiday experiences as a sources of inspiration) and less emphasis is placed on material consumption.2009: Neil Ravenscroft &Paul Gilchrist. Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society. UTS. J. those with sufficient resources to take the economic risk involved in embarking on the lifestyle. On the basis of interviews with creative workers and graduates in a small English towns. class fraction or lifestyle. Ravenscroft and Gilchrist conclude that the working society of leisure lifestyle is viable only for a few. the nomenclature raises questions about what constitutes a type of society as opposed to a class. In theory this gives rise to a new lifestyle – termed the working society of leisure – in which leisure is work-related (eg. UK: Emergent working society of leisure Neil Ravenscroft and Paul Gilchrist (2009) are unique in this review in appearing in Section 2 as a source of a contemporary recollection of the leisure society idea and appearing in one of the subsequent sections as a substantive contribution. Their research is presented in the context of Richard Florida's (2003) thesis on the rise of the 'creative class' and associated urban development strategies based on the stimulation of creative industries. As with Newman.
points out that increased leisure time was a topic of considerable popular interest in the United States during the 1920s and '30s and it would seem it is in this period that the origins of 'leisure society' thinking lie. Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society. Only four sources speculate about the nature and possibility of a future with substantially increased leisure. appeared in the period 1950-1979a nd of these just 10 were from leisure specialists. and other recent recollections in the literature. Alfred Marshall was included to show that the trade-off between working hours and leisure time were being considered at that time. Susan Currell. Indeed. indeed. These are discussed briefly below. Some 18 authors considered to be leisure studies specialists are designated (L). in retrospect. work ethic reform. as naive. Thorstein Veblen was included because some commentators have associated him with the leisure society concept. observed that commentators of the 1950s and '60s. Despite the growth in the field of leisure studies. leisure time scepticism. and later. future leisure society prediction. Only one commentator. as outlined in Section 2. The notion of a leisure society did not arise in the literature until the 1920s. Perhaps because the concept had been associated with the earlier era. J. 7. UTS. 6. Thirty of the sources reviewed. the self-service economy. almost half the total. not with some future state. Clearly a leisure society is inconsistent with the idea that substantial leisure is confined to a single class. of the 11 sources reviewed from this period. nevertheless two nineteenth century sources are cited. and 8. Table 1 draws together some of the features of these contributions. conceived of a future 'leisure society' characterised by significantly reduced working hours for all. which would be unproblematically – indeed idyllically – absorbed by fulfilling leisure activities. '90s and 2000s the series of publications by British trade unionists Clive Jenkins and Barrie Sherman (their first book actually appeared in 1979) marked a new generation of commentators prompted not by the evolutionary growth of productivity and prosperity of the 1960s and early '70s. In the 1980s. practical considerations. of the 21 sources reviewed from this period. 2. six are concerned. seven reject the concept outright. whose pronouncements appeared to have had no influence on subsequent debates. but it should be noted that he was not an academic or a member of the commentariat. It has been noted A. The comments and analyses in this period emerged against the background of post-World War II economic growth and low unemployment and can be summarised under six headings: 1.7. Payne. 3. Nevertheless. promotes the idea of a leisure society (his 'Age of Leisure and Plenty'). Keynes and Mumford) express severe doubts about the preparedness of Western society to embrace or cope with such an eventuality. 5. quoted in the introduction to Section 4. While Veblen saw the middle and working classes as emulating the wealthy leisure class. and a corresponding increase in leisure time. idyllic or otherwise. Such a vision was now seen. but was a somewhat eccentric one-man campaigner for a 4-hour working day and a non-materialistic lifestyle. Summary and concluding observations This paper was prompted by the 2006 Leisure Studies Association conference organisers' recollection of pronouncements on the subject of the 'leisure society' associated with the field of leisure studies in the 1950s and 1960s. this was largely confined to conspicuous consumption rather than leisure. the existing leisure society proposition. three (Russell. and of these. the leisure compensation thesis. 4. The paper comprised a review of a total of 68 contributions to what might loosely be called the leisure society debate. but primarily with contemporary social and moral problems of increased leisure time already being observed. but by the crisis of rising unemployment brought about by the instability caused by the OPEC oil price rises of the 1970s. it would seem that only Keynes's comments provided a contribution to debates on work and leisure futures in later years. 2009 73 . none of the commentators in this period predicted a forthcoming leisure society. the leisure civilisation challenge. only four are from leisure specialists. This. although he is known for his analysis of the leisure class.
In the past the wealthy. but among the working class may be confined to emulation of conspicuous consumption only. Automation will reduce work but also make it increasingly repetitive and boring – leisure is the anti-dote/compensation. The 'leisure class' is an élite. they should be using the time to engage in 'creative arts'. in middle class households with working heads. In the context of reduced working hours in the United States. but the issue of reduced working hours is. A society without work is likely to lead to boredom.Table 1. A. tird era/age is based on automation. Previous eras/ages of leisure were associated with youth or based on slavery: the new. 1934: A leisure society is a possibility – but society is not organised to achieve it. but society is ill-prepared. 2009 74 . Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society. Leisure and its Use Inappropriate use of leisure = the problem of leisure. social instability and conflict. Marshall is in favour if reduced wages corresponded to reduced expenditure on 'superfluities'. but generally against on the grounds that workers would not adapt easily to increased leisure. founded on the 'new leisure': public investment in education for leisure as well as work is called for. emulation of both practices can be carried out vicariously by wives and children. Summary of sources Author Marshall Date 1895 Country UK Title Principles of Economics The Theory of the Leisure Class Main argument The concept of a 'leisure society' is not discussed. but seem ill-equipped to do so. UTS. The Threat of Leisure There is a moral problem in the inappropriate use of leisure – especially in the case of commercial provision driven by profit. Veblen (L) 1899 USA Lloyd 1922 USA Ages of Leisure Mumford 1922/34 USA Utopia/Technics and Civilization Russell Cutten May& Petgen Keynes Furnas Nash (L) Miller Pack Joad 1923 1926 1928 1930 1932 1932 1933 1934 1935 UK USA USA UK USA USA USA USA UK In Praise of Idleness A 4-hour working day would be possible if everybody worked – but not likely to be achieved. Spectatoritis Labor and Challenge of the New Leisure The Challenge of Leisure Diogenes – Future of Leisure Americans are using increased free time for passive recreational pursuits. a 'new society' is envisaged. J. literature. 1922: The Country House is analysed as a utopian phenomenon involving conspicuous leisure and consumption of the leisure class. philosophy: the new leisure age can be expected to develop a new culture. Economic Possibilities Reduced working hours offer possibilities for positive use of leisure.Working hours will be greatly reduced in future and society should educate people to cope ing Day accordingly. for our Grandchildren The Two-hour Work. characterised by 'conspicuous leisure' and 'conspicuous consumption'. science. leisure elite have facilitated the development of art.
Wilensky 1938 1939 1956 1950 1954 1955 1955 UK USA France USA France USA USA The Problem of Leisure Why Work? The Lonely Crowd The Technological Society Time for Living Eros and Civilization The Sane Society Time on our Hands Less Work – Less Leisure As work in industrial society offers people less and less meaning and purpose. they look to leisure. Rejects the idea that leisure can compensate for alienating work in automated society. 1956/91 USA 1958 1958 1959 1960 1960 USA USA USA USA USA The Society of Leisure The increased significance of leisure in American society is already posing challenges. as exemplified by the USA. but leisure has the potential to counter such tendencies. Paints an optimistic Leisure: Theory and picture that the 'new leisure' will be used creatively. An 'Age of Leisure and Plenty' is possible. Speculates on a likely substantial reduction in Policy working hours by 2000.Durant Payne Friedmann Riesman (L) Ellul Soule Marcuse Fromm Lynes Swados Denney (L) Kerr et al. Achievement of reduced working hours will not be as easy as most commentators suggest. the danger is of an apathetic. but later rejects this view. calling for humanisation of both work & leisure. indeed. but is inevitable in the long run – but society is ill-equipped to cope with the consequences. For the mass of workers. Industrialism & Industrial Man Work. but does not predict a leisure society. Kaplan (L) 1960 & 1975 1962 1962 USA Leisure in America & Observes that the 'age of leisure' is already in existence in the USA in 1960. leisure itself would become equally controlled and alienated in such circumstances. Careers and Social Integration In a future 'pluralistic industrial society' work will not present challenges for most people but leisure will become 'the happy hunting ground of the independent spirit'. Leisure was already (in the 1960s) a major part of people's lives in developed economies. work is not engaging so meaning is sought outside of work. UTS. and any attempt to exercise real freedom in leisure would be frustrated by the system. rather than being a realm of freedom. but what is on offer from commercial providers is shallow and unsatisfying. with a 4-hour working day and simpler living. materialistic lifestyle disengaged from the wider society. The Anatomy of Work Leisure cannot compensate for alienating work required by industry. with more to come: 'leisure society' not discussed explicitly. 'Democratic leisure' is seen as potentially destructive but is also put forward as part of a 'new solution' to reduced working hours. Reflects Ellul in arguing that leisure is controlled by the industrial system. suggests increasing materialism. Outdoor Recreation for America Toward a Society of Leisure Reduced working hours and increased leisure time pose serious challenges for society. while the possibility of satisfying leisure is a promise. Future economic development. Leisure is no solution to alienating work since leisure is also controlled by the industrial system. 75 ORRRC (L) Dumazedier (L) USA France A. who lack 'careers'. J. 2009 . Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society. Initially suggests that leisure might offer scope for autonomy and meaning as this disappears from industrial working life. Notes that the decline in working hours and increased leisure are posing problems for American society: a 'dilettante' approach is required to counter the work ethic.
Think the more time we spend in providing services' where scope for productivity growth is more limited. and car-based suburbs. 2009 76 . Roberts (L) Linder Toffler Parker (L) Bates Sessoms (L) House of Lords 1970 1970 UK Swed. Social Trends in a Leisure Society Recreation Sport and Leisure Despite the title. Britain was already. but this will not alter the main challenge to leisure providers because demand will still be concentrated in peak periods. projections the idea of a 'Leisure Orientated Society' is not mentioned but the growth of 'quaternary [largely leisure] activities' is discussed. Under current conditions of 'demand management' by the industrial system. but discusses time spent in 'pro-suming'. conservative. Leisure is seen as the 'fourth wave'. The Third Wave ignores this. Coping with demand for leisure in the countryside presents challenges to planners. and the basis for the prediction – increased leisure time resulting from reduced working hours – is challenged. Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society. The challenge in the Age of Leisure will be for the masses to use their time in creative pursuits. Rather than creating more leisure. But in a later book he argues that 'talk of a leisure civilisation or society of leisure is misconceived'. in 1970. J. compared with earlier generations. This presents a moral challenge to which Protestants should respond./US The Harried Leisure Class Future Shock/Third Wave 1970/80 USA 1971 1971 1972 1973 UK USA USA UK The Future of Work & Concerned with a balance between work and leisure ('holistic' approach'): does not mention the Leisure leisure society. railways. In later. Expresses apprehension about the mis-use of increased leisure time. A 'Leisure Orientated Society' is put forward as a plausible scenario for the year 2000. A continuing slow reduction in working hours is anticipated. but notes a number of 'defence mechanisms' which seek to resist it. Future Shock anticipates the growth of new technology-enabled leisure activities. Lee Dower (L) 1964 1965 USA UK Religion and Leisure in America The Fourth Wave Kahn & Wiener 1967 USA The Year 2000 Galbraith Burck 1967 1970 USA USA The New Industrial State Less Leisure than you Argues that the idea of a leisure society is a myth because 'the more time we save in making goods.De Grazia (L) 1962 Gabor 1964 USA UK Of Time. Leisure Argues that. Predicts an imminent 'Age of Leisure'. Work and Leisure Inventing the Future The idea of an imminent 'new age of leisure' is dismissed. the meaning of life will increasingly be found in leisure rather than work. A. a 'society of leisure'. following three earlier waves which have broken across Britain: industrial urbanisation. The Age of Leisure is now (1972). UTS. based on assumptions of a level of productivity growth in USA (3% pa) which did not eventuate. 1976. if anything. The 'new leisure society' is already upon us. the consumer society creates time scarcity caused by the need for time to consume and maintain the proliferation of consumer goods. the evidence suggests that increasing productivity (and wage rates) will not result in more leisure but more consumption. Provides projections of growth in services employment which were. the leisure society is not mentioned in the body of the paper.
) exist for a leisure society. Conditions (prosperity etc. 77 Porritt 1984 UK Seeing Green A. but not pursued in detail. Gershuny. but these predictions proved inaccurate. UTS. economy and devote their time to 'self-defined activity' – much of it domesticated work (see also Toffler. Despite the title. Self-service Economy Reduced demand for labour in the formal economy will be taken up by domesticated work in the 'self-service economy'. Gorz. 2009 . Predicts changes in leisure patterns by 2000. Education is put forward as a solution to the possible negative effects of reduced work and increased leisure time. The working class have the opportunity to reduce their working hours in the formal. partly because of environmental limitations to material production. The idea of an 'age of leisure' is introduced. but US society is incapable of embracing it. 1979-86 UK 1979-89 UK 1980 1980 UK France Ecology Party 1981 Kelly (L) 1982 Jones 1982 UK USA Australia Newman 1983 Australia The Coming of a Leisure Society? Future Economic & Social Environment Ruthven Stonier Handy 1983 1983 1984 Australia UK UK Wealth of Information Information is seen as the emerging new basis for advanced economies. capitalist. but does not explore the leisure implications. but do not predict a leisure society. Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society. Robertson) The Collapse of Work Predict a continuing reduction in working hours and call for leisure planning and provision to be taken seriously. Alternative 'ethics' The New Leisure Society Farewell to the Working Class Working for a Future Future of Leisure Sleepers Wake! A number of authors argue for the replacement of the work ethic with a variety of alternative ethics.Bell Kando (L) Gershuny Jenkins/ Sherman Various Vickerman (L) Gorz 1973 1975 1978 USA USA UK Coming of PostIndustrial Society Toward a leisure society? Inaccurately associates Riesman with the leisure society but does not himself predict a utopian leisure society. so predicts a reduction of 50% in hours in a working life for the masses. Rejects the thesis that free and creative leisure can compensate for controlled work and consumption on the grounds that leisure is controlled too and that a balanced work-consumptionleisure lifestyle (equated with 'leisure society') is not available to the working class. based on an excess of labour in the Australian economy. The Future of Work Argues that continued full-employment conditions will not be viable. the concept of a leisure society is not discussed. (see also Toffler. Describes a possible future 'leisure scenario' as unrealistic. but does not explore the leisure implications of reduced working hours. to enable society to cope with an era of lower labour requirements. Projects a fall in working hour. J. Dismisses the 'mega-fantasy of the 'leisure society'' and rejects the possibility that capitalist society could develop or sustain a leisure society. to be absorbed by reduced working hours. with a question mark added. Robertson) The idea of a 'self-sustaining post-industrial 'Leisure Society'' is dismissed. Is dismissive of the concept of an 'age of leisure'.
. Rose Novek 1985 1985 UK USA Re-working the Protestant Ethic Is the Automated Paradise Possible? Veal (L) Seabrook Aronowitz & DiFazio Rifkin Beck 1987 1988 1994 1995 UK UK USA USA Leisure and the Future Suggests that. Expresses doubts that. people want to contribute. 4. 'Shorter working days. UTS. and while the economic circumstances exist for a Leisure Society. 1999/00 Germany Brave New World of Work 2005 UK Trends . to be absorbed by increased involvement in the voluntary sector. (L) = Leisure studies specialist A.Observes that some with careers in creative industries may be seen as adopting a lifestyle which ing Society of Leisure might be termed a 'working society of leisure'. but the 'leisure society' idea is not mentioned. today's economically advanced societies could be called leisure societies. compared with the beginning of the 20th century with its 70-hour working weeks. anti-materialist future lifestyle. but this is class-based rather than democratic. people at leisure would inevitably look for work of various kinds.Robertson 1985 UK Future Work Rejects the possibility of a leisure society because: 1.funding those at leisure would be problematical. longer vacations and earlier retirement' are envisaged and education is envisaged as being more culturally orientated.. those in work would resent those at leisure. in an automated economy in which the labour of the masses is not required. 3. But his favoured solution to the reduction in demand for labour in the formal economy is not leisure but the communitarian 'multi-activity society'. 2009 78 . income transfer to a non-employed population is plausible because non-work cannot replace the role of work as a medium of social integration and participation. a leisure society? Tribe Ravenscroft & 2009 Gilchrist (L) UK The Emergent Work. The idea of a Leisure Society involves a number of paradoxes. Predicts a marked reduction for labour in the formal economy. Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society. The 'free-time society' is one of a number of future scenarios discussed. Offers an 'alternative'. J. individual and political factors have resulted in society being more rather than less work-orientated. 2. The idea that leisure might take on the 'central cultural importance of work' is 'fashionable nonsense'. His solution is the development of 'ownwork'. The Leisure Society The Jobless Future The End of Work Dismisses predictions of a leisure society as a cynical unfulfillable promise to the worker.
leisure time ambivalence. by Denney. but at 2% per annum the increase was only 85%. under capitalism. published in 1976. The ten topics are discussed in turn below. Lynes discusses this issue and implies that leisure could assume a new role with the assistance of 'dilettantes' to lead the change in values. part of the 'dividend' had been taken in reduced working hours. despite possible dangers. Kahn's later predictions. in 1964. David Riesman. Marcuse. Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society. 2. This was also implied. both leisure specialists. The existing leisure society proposition Four contributors.. having asserted this in 1970. Experience earlier in the century had shown that in conditions of high productivity growth. leisure would be equally controlled and alienating. Kenneth Roberts and H. which they did in relation to various social classes. UTS. and Denis Gabor. The leisure compensation thesis In the 1950s. Wilensky – discussed the proposition. productivity would have increased by 150% by the end of the century. but neither did he explain why the 'leisure-orientated society' was no longer a realistic prospect. Newman also addresses the issue but does not pursue it. that ever more monotonous and alienating industrial work could be compensated for by a reduction in working hours and therefore substantially more leisure time and the attachment of increased meaning to leisure. Unlike the above commentators. and the only leisure specialist among the group. asserted that American society was 'standing nervously on the threshold' of the 'Age of Leisure'. 3. at first cautiously suggested that leisure might play this compensating role. although discussing the issue only briefly. but later (in 1961) rejected this view. They are alone in exploring possible implications for leisure behaviour. but not explicitly stated. asserted that the 'society of leisure' (or the 'Age of Leisure' in the words of Kaplan and Sessoms) was already being experienced in Western societies. seem to be content with the iea of leisure as compensation. leisure society rejection. did not include the 'leisure-orientated society'. put by others. • Also in the 1960s. predicted an imminent 'Age of Leisure'. journalist. 2009 79 . Future leisure society prediction Just three commentators actually predicted a future leisure society: • • in 1922 Alfred Lloyd argued that industrial society was facing a new 'age of leisure' which. Kerr et al. 10. futurists Herman Kahn and Anthony Wiener came close to predicting a future leisure society when they designated one of a number of possible 'future scenarios' for the year 2000 as the 'leisure-orientated society'. while sceptical about the reality of claimed increased leisure time in the 1950s.above that a number of the contributions from this period can be associated with the 'self-service economy' idea: the others can be summarised broadly under two further headings: 9. or the 'happy hunting ground of the independent sprit'. in any case. As noted above. a sequence of commentators – Friedman. while wages and profits had simultaneously increased. these writers concluded that this was not possible or appropriate and that. offered the possibility of developing a new culture. even with reduced working hours. had the 3% growth rate been achieved. Max Kaplan. However. although he noted considerable systemic resistance to such a development in Western societies. 1. J. Fromm. The appropriate response was to resist the dehumanisation of work. David Dempsey. was expressing caution by A. Douglas Sessoms. Ellul. and Robert Lee. But the scenario was predicated on 3% annual growth in productivity in the USA economy for the rest of the century and this never eventuated. But Roberts. also writing at this time.
UTS. challenged the view that leisure time had been increasing since World War II. The leisure civilisation challenge Despite the title of the English translation of his most famous book. • Burck predicted the massive growth in service-sector jobs which coincided with the reduction in demand for manufacturing labour. 5. The proposition that current society might be termed a 'leisure society'. to use Kenneth Roberts's qualitative definition: did the leisure activities in which people participated in advanced industrial societies in the 1960s play a sufficiently 'significant part in the development of their sense of self-identity' for society to be designated a leisure society or not? If not. typically from the beginning of the twentieth century. 4. and to complement . to what level would paid (and unpaid) work have to fall for the term leisure society to be appropriate? This has never apparently been discussed. and suggests that the culture developed in such an environment had considerable influence on the wider and subsequent consumer culture. ten or so public holidays and retirement at 60-65 be described as a 'leisure society' or not? If not. was also mentioned in a 1980s contribution (Veal). even by Roberts himself. must be seriously considered today'. his concern was with the need to develop a 'new culture' as a product of. or pre-existing. The self-service economy A. Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society. Joffre Dumazedier dismissed utopian notions of a 'leisure society' but spoke of the 'possible advent of a leisure civilisation' which is 'not a golden age starting tomorrow' but 'a set of new social and cultural problems which. how much more significant would it have to be (and how would this be assessed?). It is curious that these pronouncements were not a matter for debate at the time they were made. supported later by updated data from Kando. or since. Similarly. J. the 'new leisure' and similar sentiments were expressed by Spencer Miller in 1933. leisure. four weeks annual holiday. • De Grazia. Can a society in which the paid workforce enjoy a 35-40 hour working week. Kaplan gave considerable prominence to the proposition that an Age of Leisure was already in existence in 1960. The civilisation of leisure was a changed set of values and institutions required to deal with a phenomenon. A variation on the theme of an existing. Alternatively. or should some other criterion be used? This also has never been discussed. compared with the beginning of the twentieth century. which was already 'the very central element in the life-culture of millions upon millions of workers'. • Linder argued that any fall in working hours had been absorbed by the time demands of modern living. leisure society is the frequent reference to ancient Greek civilisation as a leisure society facilitated for citizens by the existence of slavery. as a result of 'demand management' in industrial societies.1975 and in 1978 he rejected the idea entirely. 6. to be solved tomorrow. Lewis Mumford's analysis of the Country House culture depicts a leisure society enjoyed by a privileged leisure class displaying conspicuous leisure and conspicuous consumption. but did not use the term in his 1975 book. but a number questioned even this proposition: • Swados suggested that reducing working ours would be slower and more difficult than generally assumed. the majority of commentators accepted the view that working hours would continue to fall in future. 2009 80 . people would continue to preference incomes and consumption over increased leisure time. While Arthur Lloyd's 1922 essay did predict an 'Age of Leisure'. Leisure time growth scepticism On the basis of observations of past trends in working hours. and • Galbraith predicted that.
a number of the commentators referred to in Section 2. and 2. James Robertson. but do not explore this either quantitatively or qualitatively. that the prediction of continually falling working hours and increasing leisure time was faulty. the debates of the 1950s and '60s as to whether leisure could replace work as a source of meaning in people's lives provides the grounds for rejection by Jeremy Seabrook. and Ulrick Beck. the reduction in work time and predicted increase in leisure time is not explored in sociological terms but in terms of relatively narrow policy and planning concerns. who do call for more leisure service planning and provision. The education systems was expected to achieve this. Alvin Toffler and Jonathan Gershuny. if any. a 'resourcefulness ethic'. A. Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society. • • We began with a two-part proposition: 1. and • Aronowitz and DiFazio. representatives of the green movement appear to equate leisure with material consumption. basically give preference to a society based on some form of work. 7. Among these are: • Jenkins and Sherman. Leisure time ambivalence A number of commentators predict continuing reductions in working hours and increased leisure time. who appears to see education as filling the additional leisure time hours. House of Lords. Jeremy Rifkin. This is also taken up by later commentators in the 1980s and '90s: André Gorz. with an alternative 'ethic'.Two contributions. uses the term 'own work'. Work ethic reform A number of British commentators in the 1980s suggested. somehow. on the grounds that the anticipated reductions in working hours have not materialised. the work ethic would need to be replaced. such as a 'usefulness ethic'. longer vacations and earlier retirement in future. • Barry Jones. and Jack Kelly rejects the concept largely on similar grounds. Joel Novek and James Robertson. Leisure society rejection The leisure society concept is rejected by different groups of commentators on different grounds: • • the self-service economy proponents. a 'life ethic'. 2009 81 . as above. in the context of continuing high unemployment. see reduced demand for labour in the formal as being taken up not by leisure. a 'non-work ethic' or a 'leisure ethic'. proposes a communitarian 'multi-active society'. 9. who envisage shorter working days. but by unpaid work in the home or in the voluntary sector. 10. rather than leisure. particularly the increased pressure on countryside recreation infrastructure. J. who envisages a 50% reduction in working hours but sees a future 'leisure scenario' as unrealistic. that early (1960s?) leisure studies was preoccupied with the concept of a predicted future idyllic leisure society. exploration of the consequences of this. • Charles Handy. 8. UTS. Dower). Practical concerns In three cases (ORRRC. and some of those listed as 'passing references' dismiss the concept on empirical grounds: that is. who refers to traditional voluntary work. but provided only a limited. uses the term 'selfdefined activity' and sees it as a way for workers to disengage from capitalism. that in order for society and the economy to cope with the changed labour market situation. Michael Rose.
with few exceptions. The second proposition relates to empirical evidence and the evidence is unclear and open to multiple interpretations – hence the proposal to prepare a companion paper on the evidence regarding trends in work/leisure time. Furthermore. which vary depending on the point of view or purpose of the recorder. be said to have a number of histories. A. so the parameters with which empirical evidence might be compared are non-existent. the leisure society concept seems to have had more salience outside of mainstream leisure studies than within it. UTS. are important because the key debates about concepts and competing theories which constitute that history often embody the very essence of the field. J. of course. In the social sciences. 2009 82 . It is true that. Thus to characterise early leisure studies as being significantly concerned with the idea of a utopian 'leisure society' is misleading. we should at least attempt to record events as faithfully as possible. Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society. One of the difficulties in relating such evidence to the leisure society concept is that no definitive models of a 'leisure society'. But the relationship between this belief and the idea of a 'leisure society' was complex.Regarding the first proposition. emerge from the literature. it was widely accepted among leisure scholars in the post-World War II period – through to the 1980s – that reductions in working hours would continue into the future. whether quantitative or qualitative. this review has established that this was an exaggeration. such as leisure studies. While any human activity can. accounts of the history of the development of a field of study.
11-18. J. Fortune. Bramham. B. 336-351). L. Rowe and G. Hoose.. pp. Essex: Financial Times/Prentice Hall. B. (1959) The leisure society: do we use leisure or does leisure use us? Harvard Business Review. TN: Abingdon Press. 25(4): 379-90. 46-60. Baumol. 18-19). 10-14. Blackie. Ecology Party (1981) Working for a Future: an Ecological Approach to Employment. Work and Leisure. U. 369-74. (1975) Social trends in a leisure society. Clemitson. New York: Twentieth Century Fund (page refs are to 1964. 37(3). pp. (2005) Willing Slaves: How the Overwork Culture is Ruling our Lives. Currell. In M. (1974) Sociology of Leisure. D. (1979) The Leisure Planning Process. Roberts (eds) Leisure and Life-style: a Comparative Analysis of Free Time. Dumazedier. R. E. Dumazedier. London. (1980) Flexible Life Scheduling: Breaking the Education-Work-Retirement Lockstep. Boston: Holbrook Press. (2006) Hard and disappearing work: making sense of the leisure project. Leisure Studies. (1970-71) The myth of increasing non-work vs. Harlow. Washington. New York: Appleton-CenturyCrofts. UTS. New Haven. (1998) The coming of the leisure society? Leisure time use in contemporary Australia. J. (1926) The Threat of Leisure. M. (eds) (1972) Recreation in Modern Society. Blakelock. D. R. Human Values. London: Civic Trust (reprinted from The Architect's Journal. CN: Dushkin Publishing. New York: Free Press. CN: Yale University Press. and Rowe. 27(4). London: Sports Council/ Social Science Research Council. De Grazia. London: Ecology Party. Dulles. pp. B. Mangan (eds) Work. S. Bull. (1989) The USA: modern times and the new solidarity. S. Cambridge: Polity (first published in German in 1999). (2003) Introduction to Leisure Studies. J. Annual Editions: Readings in Sociology 1975/76. N. (1986) Barry Jones' Sleepers Wake!: a review. 265-67 (originally in: The Futurist. Edinburgh: St Andrews Press. Bates. M. F. (1971) Leisure and post-industrial societies. and DiFazio. Amsterdam: Elsevier. Coppock. Dumazedier. 2009 83 . Cutten. P. (1962) Vers Une Civilisation du Loisir? Paris: Éditions du Seuil. Best. F. C. J.. (1967) Toward a Society of Leisure. pp. T. S. Melbourne: Longman Cheshire. Beck. Leisure Studies. G. Olszewska and K. (2005) The March of Spare Time: the Problem and Promise of Leisure in the Great Depression. Dumazedier. Bendiner. J. J. (1981) A Life to Live: Beyond Full Employment. and Rodgers. and Leisure. (1960) A new look at the new leisure. (1982) Work in Crisis. R. Junction Books. PA: University of Pennsylvania Press. P. Sydney: Hodder Education. P. 86-89 (reprinted in Hormachea. Administrative Science Quarterly. London. Bunting. work activities. Guildford. Cambridge. Dixon. 89-99. W.. New York: Basic Books. In D... (1999/2000) The Brave New World of Work. D. Carrington. (1968) Performing Arts: the Economic Dilemma. Brown. Carter. 20 Jan. NY: Anchor Books). pp. W. Dower. Lewis and J. Castle. (1994) The Jobless Future: Sci-Tech and the Dogma of Work. In R. pp.. M. (1965) A History of Recreation: America Learns to Play. and Duffield. W. P. MA: MIT Press. 446-67. R. E. 162-177. J. (1970) There'll be less leisure than you think. Denney. New York: Praeger. Leisure. and Bowen. (1973) The Coming of the Post-Industrial Society. and Weed.. 1971. (1965) The Fourth Wave: the Challenge of Leisure. paperback edition. Burck. (2008) Introduction: rethinking labour and leisure. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. DC: US Government Printing Office. 4(4). Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society. R. Sage. I. 5(Feb). G. Leisure and Technology. (1957) Could you stand a four-day week? The Reporter. & C. R. 52-67) Clarke. 191-220. 17(2). London: Harper. pp.References Aronowitz.. Sport: Critical Perspectives. G. A. Bureau of Outdoor Recreation (1977) The Recreation Imperative: A Draft of the Nationwide Outdoor Recreation Plan Prepared by the Department of the Interior. 81(3). Kaplan and P. Nashville. In A.: 123-90). September 1974. Bosserman. Bosserman (eds) Technology. Garden City. Lawrence (eds) Tourism. 1892). F. (1962) Of Time. G. J. Social Problems. Philadelphia. M. Bell.
(1956/1961) The Anatomy of Work: Labor. B. Jenkins. G. J. Handy. New York: New Viewpoints. Ernst. C.. Melbourne: Oxford University Press (1995 New edition). Philadelphia. London: Comedia/Routledge. under the title La Technique ou l'Enjeu do Siècle. (1955) Our new leisure and its good uses. J. (1928) Diogenes or the Future of Leisure. B. Friedman. Leisure. (1981) The Leisure Schock. Gershuny. A. B. Gershuny. (1967) The New Industrial State. C. New York: Macmillan. A. J. D. Godbey. E. Evans. London: Macmillan. North Melboirne. (1988) Work Without End: Abandoning Shorter Hours for the Right to Work. (1956/1991) The Sane Society. R. Paris: Libraire Armand Colin). (1985) Paths to Paradise: on the Liberation from Work. under the title Le Travaille en Miettes: Spécialisations et Loisir. (1979) Post-affluent America: The Social Economy of the Future. H. L. Paris: Gallimard). Chapter 2 of Utopia 1976. New York: Funk and Wagnalls. Vic. Bean (eds) Australian Attitudes. (1976) The Next 200 Years. Kahn. B. J. A. (1984) The Future of Work: A Guide to a Changing Society. C. (eds) (1985) Transitions to Leisure: Conceptual and Human Issues. Cheltenham: Stanley Thornes. and St Clair. (1992) Are we running out of time? Futures. L. 163-75. 2007-15.org/publications/economics/ letter/2007/ el2007-25. A. Routledge. In E. (1978) After Industrial Society? The Emerging Self-service Economy. Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society. pp. Leisure and the Quality of life: A Global Perspective. Gunter. and Wiener. M. J. 14-33. J. and Martel. FRBSF Economic Letter.. K. J. CN: College and University Press.. G. A. Glencoe. Gappert. (1950/1955) Homo Ludens: a Study of the Play Element in Culture. Smigel (ed. (1989) Understanding Leisure. 3-22. Gorz.. Friedmann. R.. New York: Knopf. Sheffield: Leisure Industries Research Centre. (1982) Farewell to the Working Class. London: Eyre Methuen. Stanley. International Social Science Journal.. Glencoe. Cambridge: Polity Press. 24(1). (1996) Introduction: whatever happened to the 'leisure age'? In C. London: Routledge. Faunce. Harmondsworth. London: Abacus. Trench. MD: University Press Of America. (1964) Inventing the Future. Furnas. (1968) Leisure and technological civilization. 509-21. (2002/03) The Rise of the Creative Class. B. G. House of Lords Select Committee on Sport and Leisure (1973) Second Report. G. New Haven. New York: Vintage Books (originally published in 1954 in French. M. London: Kegan Paul. Sydney: Allen and Unwin..) Work. Gratton (ed. Gratton. (1999) Reclaiming Work: Beyond the Wage-based Society. C. 74-86 (originally a 1975 LSA conference paper). C. (1967) The Year 2000: A framework for Speculation on the Next Thirty-three Years.Ellul. B. P. E. pp. Kahn. G.html. August 31. Middx: Penguin. L.) Freedom and Constraint: the Paradoxes of Leisure: ten years of the Leisure Studies Association. and Bramham. (1945/1955) Industrial Society: the Emergence of the Human Problems of Automation.: Pluto Press. and Sherman. pp. first published 1956). C. W. pp. London: Eyre Methuen Joad. Hunnicutt. Gorz . Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco (FRBSF) (2007) Changing productivity trends. Sheffield Hallam University. In F. 1-5. Galbraith. 2009 84 . Lanham. Kelley and C. W. Kew. and Sherman. UTS. Brown.frbsf. A.) Work and Leisure: a Contemporary Social Problem. O. Haywood. H. Trubner. Boston: Beacon Press (orginally published in German in 1944). 85-96 (NB. In J. London: HMSO. IL: Free Press (originally publish in French in 1956. J. available at: www. (1988) The life-satisfactions and priorities of Australians. (1964) The Technological Society. B. Friedmann. Coalter (ed. London: Pluto. Gorz. (1963) Automation and leisure. Jenkins. C... (1982) Sleepers Wake! Technology and the Future of Work. (1975/1989) Anti-leisure and public recreation policy: a view from the USA. London: Pluto. The paper was originally published in a another book in 1959). G. F. London (Second Edition 1991. G. Oxford : Blackwell. IL: Free Press (published in French in 1945). K. PA: Temple University Press.. (1979) The Collapse of Work. 12(4). Jones. pp. (1932) America's Tomorrow: an Informal Excursion into the Era of the Two-hour Working Day. Florida. Headey. (2001) Cultural Planning. Huizinga. and the Implications of Automation. Fromm. New York: Rinehart. Gabor.
pp. (1934) Technics and Civilization. New York: John Wiley. L. TN: Abingdon Press. and Petgen. 1(1). New York: Harcourt. (1936) Leisure and Recreation: a Study of Leisure and Recreation in their Sociological Aspects. (1960) Leisure in America: A Social Inquiry. Stanley and R. O. Leisure Studies Association. In S. (1949) Leisure and Recreation: a Study of Leisure and Recreation in their Sociological Aspects. Harvard Business Review. American Journal of Sociology. E. G. M. (1970) The Harried Leisure Class. A. Marshall. B. Glencoe. H. May. A. Barnes. Komarovsky. (1933) The New Leisure Challenges the Schools: Shall Recreation Enrich or Impoverish Life? New York: National Recreation Association. (1984) The development of a leisure ethic: some practical issues for the future. (1955) Eros and Civilization. (1931/1972) Economic possibilities for our grandchildren. Leisure Studies Association (2006) Whatever Happened to the Leisure Society? Critical and Multidisciplinary [Retro]spectives.Kando. R. 462-67. (1934) Leisure: a Suburban Study. Neumeyer.. Champaign. E. 11(3). New York: Columbia University Press. Volume II: Notes. Nashville.. Knapp. Glencoe. Kaplan. J. Harbison. Veal (eds) Work. O. New York: Oxford University Press (1964 Galaxy paperback edition consulted). C. (1933) Labor and the challenge of the new leisure. St Louis. (1989) Transforming the Future Quality of Life: Rethinking Free Time and Work. Marshall. New York: Harcourt Brace. S. S. New York: A. M. Kerr. (1983a) Leisure and social change. (1958) Leisure and Recreation: a Study of Leisure and Recreation in their Sociological Aspects.. Martin. H. page nos refer to second edn. 1930). T. J. H. J.. A. (1928) Leisure and its uses: Some International Observations. J. IL: The Free Press. J. 38(1). (1960) Industrialism and Industrial Man. 8th edn. Leisure and Social Change. (1964) Religion and Leisure in America: a Study in Four Dimensions. A. Linder. 97-109. Lanham. Kroch. Political Quarterly. B. and Neumeyer. Marcuse.html. 160-178. Mumford. Larrabee and R.. E. Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society. Novek. J. H. M. In E. Suffolk.. J. pp. Keynes. EastBourne. H. (1987) Recreation Trends: Toward the Year 2000. A. Meyersohn (eds) Mass Leisure. Revised Edition. New York: A. and Mason. 72-80. O. New York: Wiley. In Essays in Persuasion. IL: Management Learning Laboratories. Kaplan. Conference website: www.. info/LSAWEB/ 2007/Rationale. Sudbry. New York: A. Parker and A. M. Newman. pp. Lundberg. H. 345-53. M. Non-Work and Leisure. London: Macmillan. Neumeyer. H. Margerison. E. 36-39. (1985) Is the automated paradise possible? In B. L. UTS. S. (1975) Leisure and Popular Culture in Transition.. T. 92-141. and Mason. 28(2). S. Mosby (Chapter 5. (1969) Collective Search for Identity. Third Edition. Newman. Boston. W. A. M. S. Kelly. Lee. (1922/2008) The Story of Utopias. M. Brace & Company. Gunter. Nash. (1932) Spectatoritis: Re-creation not Wreck-creation. Englewood Cliffs. E. (eds) Mass Leisure.leisure-studies-association. and Neumeyer. London: Macmillan. R. 1980). Lynes. IL: The Free Press. Miller. S. NJ: Prentice-Hall. H. M.. D. M. 2(1). and McInerny. (1922) Ages of leisure. Dunlop. St Clair (eds) Transitions to Leisure: Conceptual and Human Issues. LSA Conference papers 25. Barnes. Martin. R. S. pp. (1975) Leisure: Theory and Policy.. (1890/1920) Principles of Economics. SC: Bibliobazaar. G. Rinehart and Winston. S. 2009 85 . Federal Reserve Bank of New York Quarterly Review.. A. E. pp. J. A. R. Lies. J. Leisure Consultants. 41-49. MD: University Press Of America. (1976) Hopes and fears for the age of leisure. (1982) Leisure. (1983) The coming of a leisure society? Leisure Studies. Charleston. Larrabee. New York: Holston House/Sears Publishing Neumeyer. T. Beacon Press (1966 paperback edition). (1991) Recent real income and wage trends in the United States. W. 235-42. Lloyd. 358-74 (originally delivered. New York: Columbia University Press. (1958) Time on our hands. and Myers. (1890/1961) Principles of Economics. New York: Holt. L. S. T. New York: Ronald Press Co. F. Barnes & Co. Mumford. MO: C. S. and Neumeyer. Kelly. C. V. and Meyersohn. Summer. 'Toward the leisure society?'..
CN: Yale University Press. K. F. Selwyn. 2009 86 . In N. Philosophical Implications. Putnam's Sons. P. K. pp. 3-22]. Payne. Pussard. 15(2). (1985) Future Work: jobs. R. Hangzhou. G. H. Shaw. UK: Leisure Studies Association. Sherman. Owen. 3-15 [Quotations are from the reprinted version in E. 49(2): 257-73). LSA Publication No. pp. (1923) Prospects of Industrial Civilization. Glencoe. 14-24. (1935) In Praise of Idleness and Other Essays. Veal (eds) A Handbook of Leisure Studies. H. J. P. D. 253-69. (1972) Recreation. London: Hambledon. Russell.Outdoor Recreation Resources Review Commission (ORRRC) (1962) Outdoor Recreation for America. (1978) Contemporary Society and the Growth of Leisure. (2006) Overturning the modernist predictions: recent trends in work and leisure in the OECD.) Concepts of Leisure. (1982) Education for the post-industrial society. London: Methuen. J. (1999) Jane Austen and Leisure. J. DC: US Government Printing Office. (1970) Leisure. 203-15. In S. pp. Riesman. Melbourne:Victorian Government printing Office. and Snape. N. In M. UK: Leisure Studies Association. London: Longman. Pussard (eds) (2006) Defining the Field: 30 Years of the Leisure Studies Association. 363-388. London: Paladin. London: Longman. Rowe. L. (1986) Working at Leisure. R. Basingstoke: Palgrave. July 3-5. Costello and M. Rose. (1980) Towards the dual economy and emancipation from employment. Roberts. (1991) The Overworked American: the Unexpected Decline of Leisure. In E. Eugene. Rojek. London: Allen and Unwin. Milton Keynes: Open University Press. OR: Wipf and Stock. pp. Sillitoe. J. J.. MA: MIT Press. Ryken. Oxford: Basil Blackwell. D. B. (2005) Leisure Theory: Principles and Practice. Murphy (ed. Rojek. M. Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society.. J. Kennedy and H. (1975/2006) The society of leisure: myth and reality. Aldershot. Porritt. Roberts. D. Washington. Hormachea (eds) Recreation in Modern Society. (Revised version in World Leisure. S. (1993) Leisure. Eastbourne. (1939) Why Work? The Coming 'Age of Leisure and Plenty'. Englewood Cliffs. Jackson (ed. UK: Palgrave Macmillan. 101-30. J. Harlow. Self-employment and Leisure after the Industrial Age. (1986) Work and Leisure in Christian Perspective. Riesman. Ventris. (1969) Planning for Leisure. In National Leisure Seminar Steering Committee (eds) National Leisure Seminar: Discussion Papers. (1934) The Challenge of Leisure. D. Cambridge. 1. (1969) The Price of Leisure: an Economic Analysis of the Demand for Leisure Time. D. L. Meyersohn (eds) Mass Leisure. New Haven. B. (1974) Leisure society value systems. 311-20. D. Pym. In E. NJ: Prentice-Hall. S. Culture and Society. and Russell. C. N. A. H. Economic and Cultural Development: Hangzhou Consensus. UK: Gower. Boston: Holbrook Press. (2007) Leisure before leisure studies: historicising the leisure society debate. Richardson (eds) Continuing Education for the Post-Industrial Society. (1984) Seeing Green. pp. and Piga. Haworth and M. Roberts. Schor. 223-37. 1122. 2 nd Edn. Boston: Meador Publishing. G. IL: The Free Press. K. Rifkin. Russell. Ritchie-Calder. New York: Macmillan. (1995) The End of Work: the Decline of the Global Labor Force and the Dawn of the Post-Market Era.) Leisure and the Quality of Life: Impacts on Social. (1971) The Future of Work and Leisure. D. (eds) Revisiting Keynes: Economic Possibilities for our Grandchildren. (1983) Future economic and social environments. Roberts. LSA Publication No. (1958) Work and leisure in post-industrial society. Shaw and A. (1981) Leisure. J. B. In C. London: Allen and Unwin. Media. D. University of Brighton. 12(3). Pack. S. (2006) Re-framing questions: assessing the significance of leisure. K. K. Sessoms. Ruthven. Eastbourne. Smith (eds) Sport and Leisure in Contemporary Society. (1950/1961) The Lonely Crowd.. (1988) The Leisure Society. Larrabee and R. Sessoms. Essex: Longman. (1985) Re-working the Protestant Ethic. New York. D. 40-46. B. N. Basingstoke. pp. Schor. J. Paper to the Leisure Studies Association conference: Whatever Happened to the Leisure Society? Critical and Multidisciplinary [Retro]spectives. Parker. Rotterdam: Rotterdam University Press. A. New York: Basic Books. Seabrook. and C. Futures. J. London: HMSO. L. Robertson. London: Batsford. Eastbourne. Oxford: Basil Blackwell. UTS. Pecchi. 89. K. In J. Parker. P. China: Zhejiang University Press. tourism and 'Australianness'.
New York: Basic Books. and social integration. Glencoe. Swados. London: Pan Books. London: Thames Methuen. Veal. 543-60. In E. Stonier. J. J. IL: The Free Press.) (1963) Work and Leisure: A Contemporary Social Problem. (1866/2009) Reflections on the sabbath.Smigel. Tod. A. International Social Science Journal. (1958) Less work – less leisure. UTS. (2005) The Economics of Recreation. A. Wilensky. L. NY: Prometheus Books. London: Polytechnic of North London. T. 27(3). A. 12(4). Amherst. Waring. (1975) A Guide to Recreation and Leisure. and social integration. (1987) Leisure and the Future. In What is Man? And Other Irreverent Essays. Amsterdam: Elsevier. (1980) The Third Wave. as La Société Post-Industrielle. (1983) The Wealth of Information. London: Pan Books. C. Paris: Editions Denoël). 5. G. E. in French. Twain. A. 2009 87 . (Ed. Veblen. H. (1955) Time for Living. A. 295-309. H. H. London: Allen and Unwin. and Society: a Reader in the Sociology of Occupations. London: Orbis. J. M. Wilensky. (2008) Health club use and 'lifestyle': exploring the boundaries between work and leisure. M. (1974) The Post-Industrial Society. Veal: The Elusive Leisure Society. I. 329-332. pp. life style. CN: College and University Press. (1982) Planning for Leisure: Alternative Approaches. Work. Form (eds) Man. Touraine. (1970) Future Shock. New York: Viking. and Wheeler. London: Random House (originally published in 1969. Leisure and Tourism. Boston: Allyn and Bacon. Leisure Studies. pp. (1960) Work. (1978) Utopia. A. J. Weiskopf . 95-98. Toffler. Larrabee and R. (1962) Careers.. In S. Soule. (1899/1970) The Theory of the Leisure Class. Meyersohn (eds) Mass Leisure. Papers in Leisure Studies No. pp. Tribe. careers. Tofler. D. O. L. Nosow and W. London: Allen and Unwin. New Haven. T. H. A. Veal. 353-63.
This action might not be possible to undo. Are you sure you want to continue?
We've moved you to where you read on your other device.
Get the full title to continue listening from where you left off, or restart the preview.