LEISURE: PAST AND PRESENT

PLAY AND FUN

CONTENTS

Arguments for increasing leisure

Arguments for decreasing leisure

Leisure : present and past

Leisure in nonindustrial cultures

Industrialization

The changing nature of leisure

Postindustrial society

summary

PROLOGUE

It is believed we have more leisure than before.

However, there is also talked about the fast pace of life and a longing for simpler times.

The chapter will examine both viewpoints both in quantity and quality, from the past to present.

Question is: do we have more leisure than before?

ARGUMENTS FOR INCREASING LEISURE

The increased production of material goods through the application of technology

The creation of laborsaving devices for household maintenance and other essential duties

The decline of the influence of social institutions, such as the church and the family, in establishing predetermined roles for individuals in all aspects of life

Differences in attitudes toward pleasure

Substantial increases in the education level of individuals

Lack of physical fatigue associated with many forms of employment

An increase in discretionary income

Humanization for the workplace

Greater potential for choice among women and minorities

Earlier retirement and later entry into labor force

Deferred marriage and smaller families

ARGUMENTS FOR DECREASING LEISURE

Increased social complexity and change

Limitless materialism

The carry-over of “work values” into leisure

Higher percentage of the population in the labor force

Increased environmental limitations

The continual speeding up of life

An increased sense of what is necessary

The threat of terrorism

LEISURE: PAST AND PRESENT

People may say we have more and more leisure than before

We should correct this statement as : the quantity and quality of leisure have varied greatly within different periods of history and within different societies.

As societies become more urbanized and industrialized, work and leisure become more highly separately than previously.

What is satisfying and worthwhile during leisure varies greatly from culture to culture and reflects the values and conditions of that culture

LEISURE IN NONINDUSTRIAL CULTURES

For preindustrial cultures, the line between labor and leisure is not distinct.

There are elements of recreation in the economic activities. The amount of time available for leisure appears to have been as great or greater than our own. (less desire for material goods)

One study about Indians in Peru:

They survived by growing food in gardens, hunting, fishing, and collecting wild foods. They are self-sufficient; almost everything they consume is produced by their own

labors using materials found close at hand

When dividing the time of the Indians’ daily life, it can be divided into three parts: production time (work), consumption time (using consumers goods for pleasure, eating), and free time (idleness, rest, sleep, chatting)

To compare the time used by the French with the Indians, it was found the French men and women spent more time in production and spent from three five times more hours in the consumption of goods than the Indians. The Indians’ free time was found surpass that of the French by more than fours hours a day

LEISURE IN NONINDUSTRIAL CULTURES

Technological progress has provided us with more goods, it has not resulted in more free time for most people living in industrial society

The pace of life for Peruvian Indians was leisurely, daily activities never seemed hurried or desperate

For Australian aborigines and the Kung San of South Africa, require only three or four hours of work per day to provide the material requirements for their simple way of life

Satisfied with less

LEISURE IN NONINDUSTRIAL CULTURES

Games played an important role in most ancient cultures.

Games had serious functions in ancient cultures.

Such games might prepare children for adult roles, such as hunting, survival skills, domestic life and childrearing, or for social interaction and stratifying society.

Games also helped ancient peoples deal with conflict, establish justice, and define relations with outside society

INDUSTRIALIZATION

In preindustrial society, work was incorporated into everyday life and leisure time was not separate.

Work was carried out in fields within the sight of home or within the home itself accompanied by friendly conversation

Only after industrialization, people need to work away from home and separate with their families, then the demand of leisure become distinct and necessary.

People need to work long hours and leisure seemed rare and only some people could have leisure

LEISURE CLASS

In ancient Athens, native-born citizens were in some sense, a privileged, leisure class. Their control of a system of slaves and the very limited rights of women empowered their lives of leisure

In industrialized society, the leisure behavior and consumption of goods seemed to impress others and to distinguish from other ordinary people

In UK and the US, too much consumption involved all classes in meaningless chase to display material goods in an emulative manner

Later, some women involved in politics, volunteer work..

Leisure class is not all bad…

WORKING CLASS

The working class is the one deprived of leisure and forced to work long hours w/o leisure

What really changed their lives in a revolutionary manner was the clock, who lives by it becomes an automaton

The farmers didn’t want this industrial life, but gradually, they were forced into it, driven off the land and into factories.

GAMBLING, DRINKING AND VIOLENCE: COMMON LEISURE

PURSUIT

Gambling, drinking and violence: common leisure pursuit for people to feel relaxed

In both Europe and North America, gambling and drinking either accompanied or were the source of most leisure activity for adult males or some females.

Additionally, many leisure activities involved extreme violence to each others or toward animals.

GAMBLING

While gambling was common to some extent in almost to all cultures, the growth of racing and blood sports, from boxing to cockfights, in both Europe and North America, increased gambling greatly

The practice of card playing for money and gambling spread to all sectors of society, involving all women as well as men.

The rise of commercial enterprise and the spirit of capitalism took a positive attitude toward risk taking promoted gambling

DRINKING

The attitude of drinking to some laborers is it help them to get them through a 10 to 12 hours day

The attitude promoted drinking, especially to men.

Some special occasions also promote overly drinking such as weddings and celebrations.

REFORM OF LEISURE

Industrialism produced changes that made former leisure habits impossible for the working class

As formal and informal education increased, people were aware of the varieties of leisure activities.

As the religious constraints decreased and the self-awareness increased, the working class has more free choices of leisure activities.

THE INCREASING ROLE OF GOVERNMENT IN CONTROLLING

LEISURE

The government provide more and more recreation and leisure facilities, program and other services, and increase regulation of leisure behavior

In regard to regulation of leisure activities, government had always sought to ban certain form of behavior.

Street trading, children’s games and hanging around activities were no longer appropriate for the streets.

Gambling, uses of tobacco or drugs, prostitution, are restricted or prohibited

The pub was increasingly controlled and lost many of its social functions

THE BASIS OF INCREASING FREE TIME

Although free time became more controlled, it also increased in America for several reasons, including the rise in productivity of the labor force, the efforts of labor unions and a policy of support for shorter hours of work from the federal government.

Labor unions were successfully in gradually promoting shorter hours

THE CHANGING NATURE OF LEISURE

The transition from preindustrial to industrial society result in systematic changes in leisure’s characteristics

In rural, conservative societies, there is a tendency for leisure activities to center around family and church groups, while in more complex , urban cultures there is a tendency for leisure to be centered around individual interests and for family to be less dominant in the use of leisure.

Industrialism also began to produce more material goods for the common people, and the desire to acquire goods became incorporated into a materialistic style of life.

The acquisition, use and maintenance of a progressively greater number of material goods further contributed to the speedup in the pace of life

POSTINDUSTRIAL SOCIETY

The postindustrial society is characterized by the costs or scarcities include the cost of information, the cost of coordination, and the cost of time.

Information : learning is mandatory in our society, and the rate at which we are bombarded with information increases daily.

Every new society or political movement speak of “educate the people”

For example, the new comsumer activist movement is based upon the providing more and more accurate information to the consumer so as to ensure a logical choice on his or her part

POSTINDUSTRIAL SOCIETY-CONT.

Information : the consumer’s movement is dependent upon individuals internalizing huge amounts of information, processing it in a logical way, and then making calculated decisions.

For example, buying a new cellphone, we will compare the outlook, camera functions, monitor size, price, etc.

Such an approach ensures that the individual pays for the cellphone not only with money but also with time, energy, and added complexity to his or her life.

POSTINDUSTRIAL SOCIETY-CONT

Coordination: In postindustrial society, society becomes more and more complex, and we become more independent, planning and regulating our society become more important and more difficult.

Time : the ultimate scarcity for those who wish to consume and experience at an historically unprecedented rate.

The desire to experience all things pleasurable, to be needed and involved in as many sets of human experiences as possible is, in many respects, the ultimate greed (capitalism)

SUMMARY

Leisure and its use have increasingly been shaped by organizations, and the goals of such organizations help to determine the meaning and use of free time in modern society

STUDY QUESTIONS

After reviewing arguments for and against increasing leisure, state whether you are convinced or unconvinced that the amount of leisure is increasing or decreasing and why

Do you believe leisure would be more satisfying in a single culture society or a plural culture society? Why?