Leisure Research to Enhance Social Justice

Abstract

Several streams of leisure research are directed at furthering an agenda for social justice. These lines of inquiry are motivated by the need to end various kinds of oppression related to one's gender, race, ethnicity, sexual identity, ability, and socio-economic status. Rather than social justice, this special issue is focused on research frameworks that further social justice. Three inter-related research criteria are applied: (1) identification of a value orientation and vision for social justice, (2) development of a social or cultural framework to enhance social justice, and (3) connection to social and political action to move communities in the direction of a more socially just set of relations. These three research criteria are applied to three approaches to research: descriptive, explanatory, and transformative. The purpose of this special issue is to build capacity of leisure research to enhance social justice.

Keywords:

• empowerment
• epistemology
• paradigm
• philosophy of social sciences
• research activism

Acknowledgments

The author is grateful for the insight and helpful comments from Diana Parry and two anonymous reviewers who challenged me to think broadly about suitability of research approaches for social justice. In addition, the author appreciates Gerard Kyle for facilitating the reviews on this paper, and for Co-Chairs Jason Bocarro and Monika Stodolska for encouraging thematic panel presentations as part of the 2012 Leisure Research Symposium.