New Directions in the Theory and Research of Serious Leisure

“In [Serious Leisure], Dr. Stebbins tells the fascinating story of his enquiry into this important area of human behavior, a story made possible by his successful and long-running research program. . . this new book nicely pulls together and synthesizes the results of his work up to the present time. . . Social scientists interested in issues such as the relationship between work and leisure, successful retirement, coping with unemployment and the impact of non-work behavior on health have found his grounded theory on serious leisure to be quite useful. Besides the discussion of the basic theory, these recent developments are described and analyzed in this new book. . . . for the first time, he provides a major account and analysis of casual leisure, its types and even its potential importance relative to serious leisure. In addition, the discussion of how deviant leisure can be either casual or serious will be of interest to the growing number of researchers interested in what has been called ‘purple leisure’, that is, participation in illicit free time activities. . . Dr. Stebbins has written in a way that has made his ideas and work accessible to a wide range of readers – readers who include scholars interested in the phenomenon itself as well as the well-read student of human behavior.” – Roger C. Mannell

Table of Contents:
Preface by Chris Rojek
Foreword
Part I The Basic Perspective
1. Serious Leisure: An Overview
2. The Liberal Arts Hobbies
3. Career Volunteering
4. Casual Leisure
Part II Elaborations and Extensions
5. Cultural Tourism
6. Leisure and Selfishness
7. Leisure Education
Part III Research and Issues
8. Recent Theory and Research
9. Current Issues
Part IV The Twenty-first Century
10. The Job-Reduced Future
11. New Directions in Research
Bibliography; Index