Deviant Leisure

Zusatztext

This book brings together international expertise across the social sciences, exploring the interconnections between deviance, leisure and crime. Deviant leisure is a term commonly used to describe forms of leisure activity which are either illegal, or appear to contravene cultural norms and values. This collection draws on a largely-unexplored political economy of deviant leisure, underscoring the cultural importance of the commodification of deviant leisure forms, and the propensity for social, environmental or economic harm as a result of the conflict between commodified leisure forms and broad notions of social justice. Presenting deviant leisure in the context of a paradigm of harm highlights the inconsistencies apparent in our treatment and understanding of a range of activities. Activities that are linked to low levels of social harm are directly or indirectly criminalised, such as some forms of drug taking or leisure pursuits that bring individuals or groups into conflict with owners or guardians of private property such as skateboarding or parkour. Meanwhile other forms of undeniably harmful leisure are legal, or positively sanctioned. For example, drunken behaviour within the context of the marketised night time economy is tolerated or even celebrated, despite being the site of violence, sexual assault and vandalism. This edited collection draws on the current vitality, interdisciplinary scope and intellectual trajectory of work in the area of leisure and deviance, while simultaneously making a significant and lasting contribution to criminology, sociology and leisure studies. Contributions come from a range of scholars interested in addressing theoretical questions around leisure, culture and crime through case studies, original research and other forms of empirical enquiry.

Autorenportrait

Oliver Smith is a reader in Criminology at The University of Plymouth, UK. He has published widely in the field of deviant leisure, and is author of Contemporary Adulthood and the Night Time Economy (Palgrave, 2014). His current research examines the capacity for environmental harm in the context of commodified leisure markets. Thomas Raymen is Senior Lecturer in criminology at Northumbria University, UK. His interests span the fields of criminology, moral philosophy, leisure studies, cultural geography and urban studies. Thomas is the author of Parkour, Deviance and Leisure in the Late Capitalist City (Emerald, 2018), and his research has focused upon a criminological exploration of the concept of 'deviant leisure'. He is currently focused on developing a theory of social harm rooted in a post-liberal ethics.

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