Leisure and culture: Issues for an anthropology of leisure

Abstract

The coverage of and interest in non‐Western and cross‐cultural aspects of leisure seems to be on the increase in leisure studies. Although this is a welcome trend in the current climate of multiculturalism, there is currently no systematic agenda for the anthropological study of leisure. I suggest that four issues should be addressed to serve as a foundation for an anthropology of leisure. These include (a) the ethnography of leisure, (b) the cross‐cultural validity of the concept of leisure, (c) leisure and adaptation, and (d) leisure and the evolution of culture. Although my position is scientific, materialistic, and comparative, researchers who bring other perspectives can also contribute to the cross‐cultural understanding of leisure. Most important, anthropologists must come to realize that leisure is a topic worth their attention, and leisure researchers must make use of anthropological resources and not just reprise old and erroneous beliefs about leisure and culture that have become canonical in the field.

Keywords:

• adaptation
• anthropology
• cultural evolution
• cross‐cultural research
• ethnography
• leisure and culture