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The Research Committee on Sociology of Leisure (RC13) of the International Sociological Association(ISA) would like to invite sociologists of leisure and culture to submit abstracts to its sessions within the Third Forum of Sociology held
by the ISA, which will take place in Vienna, Austria, 10-14 July 2016:
http://www.isa-sociology.org/forum-2016/rc/rc.php?n=RC13
Program Coordinators
Ishwar MODI, India International Institute of Social Sciences, India,
[log in to unmask] and Karl SPRACKLEN, Leeds Beckett University, United Kingdom,
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Call for Abstracts
14 April 2015 - 30 September 2015 24:00 GMT Anyone interested in presenting a paper should submit an abstract on-line to a chosen session of RC/WG/TG on-line submissions The abstract (300 words) must be submitted in English, French or
Spanish. Please contact the Program Co-ordinators or session organisers listed below or further information.
Sessions in alphabetical order
Happiness, Well-Being and Health
Session Organizer(s)
Robert STEBBINS, University of Calgary, Canada,
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Session in English
Happiness, Well-being and Health
Edward Diener (2000) has argued that happiness and subjective well-being are the same and that these two come with having good health, reasonable prosperity, and in general, being routinely happy and content. But this is long-term happiness
(Stebbins, in press). Nevertheless, some observers describe happiness as momentary: “[it] is considered to reflect a person’s more temporary affective feelings of the present moment” (Mannell & Kleiber, 1997, p. 208). Let us label this short-term happiness,
so-called because the “present moment” might last a few minutes or even a few days.
Leisure plays a central role in both types, though that role is highly complicated and by no means sufficiently examined. Can health and well-being result from (short-term) happiness consisting of, say, an afternoon of rides
at a carnival midway, evening of gossip at the bar after work, or weekend of sun and sand in the Caribbean? If so, what is the nature of this kind of happiness? What sort of health and well-being flows from the long-term variety, for example, that gained from
a deeply satisfying marital relationship, successful leisure career as a painter or collector, or dedicated volunteer service on a non-profit board of directors?
This session invites theoretical and empirical papers along these lines and others that bear on the trilogy of happiness, well-being and health. In particular this session focuses on the many ways that good health and the leisure
experience in all their variety generate happiness and well-being, both long- and short-term.
How to Become a Leisure Agent
Session Organizer(s)
Klára TARKÓ, University of Szeged, Hungary,
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Session in English
Education of Leisure Professionals shows great varieties by cultures and countries. Introduction to the different educational programmes, highlighting at the specialities of certain curricula would enable an effective discussion, change
of expertice and share of methodology through which a common language of leisure professionals could be established. Regular Session.
Leisure and Unemployment: Struggles for a Better World
Session Organizer(s)
Francis LOBO, Edith Cowan University, Australia,
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Session in English
Unemployment and its consequences is one of the worst social problems facing the world today. The biggest battalions in the reserve army of the unemployed are young people and those in ‘late career’. This session focuses on these two unemployed
groups in separate cohorts of the life cycle. The unemployed are defined as those people who have been involuntarily terminated from their jobs and as a consequence seek re-employment. The particular emphasis of the session is on how unemployment affects the
leisure of individuals and whether job loss excludes people from customary activities. Unemployment is said to cause social exclusion, since one has no right to work, no dignity or freedom and no way of planning private and professional life and organising
individuality. The concept of exclusion and its application to unemployment needs to be examined by types of exclusion within the domain of leisure. This session attempts to do that. The session expects to examine: unemployment and the types of exclusions
it causes; the relationships between unemployment, leisure and disadvantage; research on unemployment and social exclusion in leisure; and implications for equity and inclusion.
Leisure and/in the Cyberspace
Session Organizer(s)
Gianna CAPPELLO, University of Palermo, Italy,
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Session in English
This session focuses on the intersection between leisure and the cyberspace defined as a leisure location which is absorbing an increasing amount of time from people’s daily life. In attempting to avoid the traps of binary thinking (new
media vs. old media, digital native vs. digital immigrant, etc.) and all rhetoric about the “revolutionary” impact of technological innovation, we invite reflection on the many continuities that can be established with the past, given the assumption that change
proceeds according to complex and multidimensional trajectories, intertwined with other forms of historically specific social and cultural change as well as with resilient structural conditions, such as those defined by age, gender, and socioeconomic status.
In order to understand this complex and ever changing panorama, new theories and methodologies are needed. For this reason, the session focuses on innovative theoretical and/or methodological approaches. Some of the questions that can be asked are: how is
cyberspace being taken up in leisure practices? How the re-allocation of time to cyberspace leisure can generate different kinds of impact on traditional leisure activities, in some cases reducing or replacing the time previously spent in physical places or
in other “mediated” locations? How notions such. as “space”, “mobility”, “friendship”, “civil/political participation” and “public vs. private” are reconfigured in/by social media?
Co-chairs for this session are: Fabio Massimo Lo Verde and Gianna Cappello, University of Palermo, Italy
Leisure, Community and Identity
Session Organizer(s)
Maliga NAIDOO, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa,
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Session in English
Leisure spaces and activities are central to counter-hegemonic resistance, sub-cultural identity and post-colonial encounters and subversions. They are also spaces and activities where people find belonging and community. This presentation
will focus on social cohesion, identity and a sense of belonging within communities in South Africa traced through the colonial era, followed by the apartheid regime, and the last twenty years of a new democratic political dispensation. Where and how does
leisure fit into the creation of communities and social identity? Sarason (1974) suggested that people will experience a sense of belonging, enjoy good quality of life and wellbeing if they were integrated into networks, while oppression and other processes
of cultural and community oppression can have the opposite effect. In today’s modern and technologically advanced society people are searching for innovative opportunities to construct strong communities and boost social cohesion. This paper will attempt
to address the extent to which recreation and leisure can be reorganised to develop a sense of community and boost social cohesion.
Reference :
Sarason, S. (1974). Psychological sense of community: Prospects for a community psychology. San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass.
Leisure, Gender, Sexuality and the Body
Session Organizer(s)
Antti HONKANEN, University of Eastern Finland, Finland,
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Session in English
Leisure shapes our bodies, and constructs and constrains those bodies, as well as genders and sexualities. In the new century, people have claimed that leisure spaces provide unique places for challenging gender norms and biology. Others
say that leisure is a place where such norms about gender and body image are reproduced. In this session, we call for papers that explore the multiple roles for leisure in embodiment, gender and sexualities.
Leisure, Liquidity and Virtuality - Ocio, Liquidez y Virtualidad
Session Organizer(s)
Christianne Luce GOMES, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brazil,
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Session in English, Spanish
Regular Session
How are the forces of liquidity and virtuality at work in leisure? How can we begin to understand the ways in which leisure lives are shaped by the condition of the new century? And how can we predict what might happen to leisure in the
future if these forces continue to operate on society and culture around the world? In this session we invite papers from researchers and theorists who can help us understand the liquid and virtual as they shape leisure in this new century.
Sesión Regular
¿Cómo son las fuerzas de la liquidez y de la virtualidad en el trabajo con el ocio y la recreación? ¿Cómo podemos empezar a entender las formas en que la vida y el ocio están moldeadas por la condición del nuevo siglo? ¿Y cómo podemos
predecir lo que podría suceder con el ocio en el futuro si estas fuerzas siguen operando en la sociedad y la cultura en todo el mundo? En esta sesión invitamos ponencias de investigadores y teóricos que pueden ayudar a entender el líquido y el virtual que
dan forma al ocio en este nuevo siglo.
Spirituality and Faith in and through Leisure
Session Organizer(s)
Madhu NAGLA, M.D.University, India,
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Session in English
Leisure has been an important human space and activity in the writings of religious scholars and theologians, and in the cultural practices associated with various religions, faiths and other forms of spirituality. From scriptural edicts
about what can and cannot be done in leisure, to the ways in which leisure has become a form of religion in late modernity, the intersection and examination of spirituality in and through leisure is the subject of this session. We call on all who are interested
in examining the importance of leisure to spirituality, and spirituality to leisure, to submit abstracts for this session.
The Environmental Implications of Leisure.
Session Organizer(s)
Lynne CIOCHETTO, Massey University, New Zealand,
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Session in English
In the first two decades of the 21st century climate change awareness and sustainability have moved from the periphery of mainstream awareness to the centre. At the heart of the issue is the reduction of carbon emissions and sector environmental
footprints. Some major leisure activities produce high levels of carbon emissions, especially travel and tourism. As tourism becomes a major source of national income this issue must be faced in many countries. This panel invites papers that explore dimensions
of the environmental impacts of contemporary leisure activities.
The Meaning and Purpose of Leisure
Session Organizer(s)
Karl SPRACKLEN, Leeds Beckett University, United Kingdom,
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Session in English
In an ever-changing world leisure remains a space and an activity that is assumed to be good for people. In this session we want to encourage theorists and researchers to think about the meaning and purpose of leisure in contemporary society,
and whether the idea that leisure is a social and moral good can still hold.
The Sociology of Video Gaming
Session Organizer(s)
Pascaline LORENTZ, Masaryk University, Czech Republic,
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Session in English, French
(Regular session)
Video games are today depicted as an evident leisure activity. Yet, the legitimization of this hobby has undertaken a chaotic track. Playing video games has, in fact, transformed from a marginal and isolated activity to a global and mainstream
pastime. A few countries have sparked national surveys about video gaming and its role in their societies. For instance, the Entertainment Software Association annually provides reports about American players. Knowledge about Europe is further brought by the
Interactive Software Federation of Europe. On the other side of the world – in Australia and New Zealand - the Interactive Games and Entertainment Association orders national surveys every two years.
What about other regions of the world? What about China, India, South America, Africa, and the Middle East? What does playing video games in Russia look like?
While the scholarship on video gaming concentrates on specific issues (violence, addiction, well-being, gamification, etc.) or particular titles (World of Warcraft, GTA, etc.), this panel aims to gather sociologists in order to identify
the similarities and differences in this leisure around the globe. Geographically-centered associations of video game researchers are mushrooming to form bands of experts. Their regional conferences miss the opportunity to unite on a worldwide scale. By getting
sociologists from every corner of the world together, the ISA Forum 2016 proffers a meeting ground where to discuss and debate global video gaming. Hence, this panel in Sociology of Leisure accommodates a table around which all experts can break bread and
share their researches.
“Let’s Talk about Who We Are”: Envisioning Reflexive Global Leisure Scholarship
Session Organizer(s)
Shintaro KONO, University of Alberta, Canada,
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Session in English
In this rapidly globalizing (academic) world, we are having more opportunities for cross-cultural leisure studies, international collaborations, publications in different languages, and the use of knowledge from different countries in both
research and practice. However, if we use terms and concepts uncritically, we may not only cause miscommunications, but also produce problematic knowledge and reproduce power imbalance in global leisure scholarship (e.g., Iwasaki, Nishino, Onda, & Bowling,
2007; Roberts, 2010; Samdahl, 2010). To avoid such consequences and rather promote better-balanced scholarship in the world, this session calls for papers that initiate reflexive dialogues about (a) who we are as (leisure) scholars and (b) how and why we do
leisure research. Reflexivity refers to our critical awareness of influences of our personal and cultural backgrounds on our knowledge construction and use processes. Given various ways of doing leisure studies around the world, our practices (e.g., methods),
institutions (e.g., university systems, relevant policies, granting agencies, peer review systems), and bodies of knowledge (e.g., theories, literature) should be subject to our reflexive and critical examination. With this concept as an overall topic, this
session invites a broad spectrum of papers from all over the world (i.e., both West and non-West) in various formats including empirical studies, philosophical and theoretical essays, review-type articles, and methodological works among others. Moreover, this
session awaits voices not only from experienced researchers who have already been involved in this globalizing leisure scholarship, but also from young scholars who bear the future of this academic enterprise.
Karl Spracklen, PhD
Professor of Leisure Studies
Vice President, Research Committee 13 (Sociology of Leisure), International Sociological Association
Editorial Board, Inter-Disciplinary.Net
Principal Editor, Metal Music Studies
Secretary, International Society for Metal Music Studies
Leisure Studies Association Ambassador
Book Review Editor, Leisure/Loisir
School of Sport, Carnegie Faculty, Leeds Beckett University, United Kingdom
44 (0)113 8123608 (internal: 23608)
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