Leisure and Personhood

1
Leisure and Personhood

• In the mid 1980s, Clarke and Critcher (1985)
  speculated on the extent to which Britain had
  become, or might soon become, a leisure society
  and considered the various advantages to peoples
  lives and well being of a future that could be
  more relaxed, more creative (and) more enjoyable
  . . .(p 1). There was clearly evidence to
  suppose that leisure was more important in
  peoples everyday existence and new attitudes to
  the organisation of work and new technologies of
  production had the potential to deliver this
  prospect of greater emancipation.

2

• While the authors were, quite rightly, sceptical
  about such a promise being immediately around
  the corner, largely as a result of societys
  deep rooted attitudes to work and free time, in
  many ways the very contemplation of such a
  prospect was testimony to the important position
  that leisure had assumed.

3
This lecture aims to

• examine the development of leisure over the last
  200 years
• assess its role in contemporary society and its
  influence on peoples lives
• raise issues about the relationship between
  leisure and work and leisure and religion
• speculate on possible future prospects for
  leisure.

4
Historical Development of Leisure

• Pre-industrial leisure
• Leisure and the Industrial Revolution
• Leisure developments in the latter half of the
  19th and early 20th centuries
• Leisure post 2nd World War

5
Pre-industrial Leisure

• Work and leisure intermixed
• markets and fairs with travelling entertainments
• agricultural/religious calendar
• haymaking and harvesting an excuse for
  revelries, drinking and dancing.

6

• Large number of holy days.
• in the Middle Ages 1 day in 3 was a holiday of
  some kind.
• in 1761 the Bank of England closed for 47 days
  and in 1808 it still enjoyed 44 days holiday.

7

• 3. Leisure and play associated with everyday
  life
• festivals, weddings and christenings,
• funerals (wakes).
• many of these activities were highly structured -
  there was no choice.

8

• 4. Importance of the pub or local tavern
• drinking,
• gambling,
• prostitution
• animal/blood sports,
• also link with work

9
The Industrial Revolution

• Period of dramatic social and economic change
  that occurred between c. 1750 and 1830
• what people did for a living
• the way in which people worked
• where people worked
• where people lived

10
Leisure in the Early Nineteenth Century

• Reduction of Time
• 12-12.5 hour day in 1820s and 1830s
• (72 hour week)
• Bank of England closing days
• 47 in 1761 44 in 1808
• 18 in 1830 4 in 1834

11

• Saints Days were cut back and campaigns were
  waged by employers against idleness, wakes and
  holidays.

12

• 2. Banning of/restrictions on popular leisure
  forms
• campaigns against drinking and rowdy behaviour
• abolishing of many fairs
• campaigns against blood sports

13
Reasons for Decline in Leisure

• perceived need by employers to have a
  hardworking, regimented, sober workforce
• fear of revolution
• attempt by the growing middle class to impose its
  values and attitudes on the working class

14

• Protestant work ethic
• - Webers The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit
  of Capitalism
• - R H Tawneys Religion and the Rise of
  Capitalism

15
Development of Mass Leisure Key Factors

• Time
• Wealth
• Rational Recreation
• Local Authorities
• Commercialisation
• Technological Change

16
Time

• 1820s and 30s - 72 hour week
• 1850 - 60 hour maximum working week for women in
  the textile industry
• 1874 - reduced to 56 hours
• Building industry generally adopted a 54 hour
  week in the 1870s
• Engineering followed in the 1880s
• 1890s - wave of 8 hour days established

17

• Half day holiday
• Textiles in 1874
• Shop Act of 1912 provided it for shop
  assistants
• Annual Holidays
• Bank Holiday Act 1871
• Holiday With Pay Act 1938

18
Wealth

• Tremendous wealth created by Industrial
  Revolution eventually trickled down to working
  classes
• 1860 - 1875 working class real incomes rose by
  40
• 1875 - 1900 rose by a further 50

19
Rational Recreation

• Organised sport
• Role of church
• - 1874 Bolton Wanderers (Christ Church FC)
• - 1879 Fulham St Andrews Church Sunday School
• - 1880 Manchester City (St Marks Church)
• - Everton (St Domingos Church)
• Church outings, Sunday School trips etc

20

• Self improvement
• Museums Act 1845 Libraries Act 1850
• Mechanics Institutes
• Development of Swimming Baths (Baths and Wash
  Houses Act of 1846)
• Development of Parks and Public Open Space

21
Post-2nd World War Leisure Affluence

• 2nd World War - pivotal point in the
  development of leisure
• Pre war activities expanded after war eg cinema
  and football attendance
• mid 1950s - post-war austerity ended
• End of 50s - booming economy and full employment.

22

• Throughout the 1960s real incomes rose steadily
  producing a growing disposable income
• significant improvements in leisure time
• peoples holiday entitlement increased
  substantially

23
More home centred leisure

• homes more comfortable home furnishing, TV
• strong counter attraction to the cinema and the
  pub.
• DIY

24
Car Ownership

• Countryside recreation, sport
• Convenience
• Accessibility

25
Growth of International Tourism

• increased wealth
• increased holidays
• transport improvements
• package holidays

26
Other key Influences

• significant change in attitudes and freedoms
• major assault on long established institutions
• laws and attitudes relating to moral and
  acceptable behaviour were all challenged
• development of youth culture and the emergence of
  teenagers
• Changing life styles of young people more
  disposable income, more freedoms

27

• new technologies exploiting increased wealth and
  leisure time
• transistor radios
• popular records and record players
• substantial quantities of relatively inexpensive,
  mass produced, fashionable clothing
• there was also an expansion of dance halls and
  cafes
• pirate radio stations which eventually led to the
  introduction of the BBCs Radio One in 1967.

28

• a widespread questioning of the attitudes and
  lifestyles of the older generation
• the growth of sexual freedoms
• the liberal lifestyles of the swinging sixties

29

• Possibly for the first time people, and
  especially the young, were identifying leisure
  and pleasure as central concerns in their lives
  and, while this was not going to produce the
  leisure society as some contemporary pundits
  were suggesting, it would produce a society where
  leisure would command far greater importance and
  attention than it had ever done before.

30
Leisure Time

• Leisure as time left over from work
• Problems of identifying the precise boundaries
• Other obligated time sleeping, housework etc
• Problems of defining obligations eg gardening,
  DIY, servicing childrens leisure, walking the
  dog . . .

31

• Office for National Statistics (ONS)
  show.Despite complaints about a long-hours
  culture, the average working week has in fact
  shrunk over the past 15 years.In 2006, the
  average employee spent 31.9 hours at work.
• This compares to 33.2 hours a week spent at work
  in 1992.However, it is thought that this trend
  is due to the number of people, notably women and
  older workers, taking part-time positions.

32

• The average male employee spends 36.6 hours at
  work, compared to 26.5 hours for women.Nearly
  three in ten men work at least 45 hours a week, a
  slight fall since 1992, but more women are
  working longer hours, with one in eleven putting
  in 45 hours a week..

33

• Care is required when comparing male and female
  work time.
• Large amount of unpaid work
• Labour saving devices allow women to go out to
  work but
• end up with less leisure time

34

• A recent Eurostat survey found that people in
  Britain spend about
• 45 of their free time watching TV,
• 24 socializing,
• 22-23 on sport and hobbies,
• 10 on other activities.
• The average TV viewing time is 25 hours per
  person per week.

35

• Research for the Institute for Employment Studies
  identified work pressure and a long hours culture
  as two of the main reasons that employees in the
  United Kingdom work long hours.
• It was identified that working long hours can
  have an adverse impact on personal relationships
  and, in some instances, could lead to ill health.
  

36
Leisure and Contemporary Society

• Last few decades have seen a number of
  significant changes in work regimes
• people can no longer assume secure jobs for life
• the restructured economy demands a more flexible
  workforce with workers increasingly on temporary,
  short term contracts

37

• such changes have led to the restructuring of
  work time itself.
• Flexi work time
• Flexible holiday time
• homeworking

38

• YouGov has found that Britain is seemingly
  turning into a nation of homeworkers. As the UK
  workforce embraces a more flexible working week,
  the trend looks to become more popular in the
  coming year a third of ad hoc homeworkers are
  expecting to spend more time working from home. 
• 30 of employees spend nearly 10 of the working
  month working from home (an average of 15.73
  hours)

39
24-7 Society

• 24-7 society driven by the demands of certain
  industries, eg those which rely heavily on
  computer technology call centres.
• key services that cater for the changing work
  regimes and those working irregular hours

40

• Changes in the schools 6 term years
• School day starting earlier and finishing earlier
  to provide time in afternoon for extra curricula
  activities
• FE Colleges now run classes all year round
• Universities?

41
Consequences for leisure

• Leisure activity not so concentrated
• Shops open longer
• Changes to the school day and holidays may have
  consequences for leisure and tourism
• Work and leisure becoming less differentiated
• More leisure time?

42
More leisure?

• 1970s some pundits were proclaiming the leisure
  society
• The End of Work
• Few would now agree with this view
• Problems of the computer age
• Amount of work
• Pace of work

43

• Mintel (1999) report 51 of adults claimed to
  have less leisure time than 5 years earlier,
  while 44 per cent said they had more money to
  spend on leisure.
• Consequently, for key groups within society,
  increased leisure is illusory the harried
  leisure class,
• Number of time poor, money rich people is
  possibly growing.

44

• But could leisure replace work and religion as
  the key forces in peoples lives?