After popular culture: hyperreality and leisure

For at least the last ten years social theory and philosophy has been dominated by the debate on modernity and postmodernity. However, the influence of this debate in leisure studies has been uneven. Postmodern arguments have exerted an influence but they have often been misrepresented by the rhetoric of traditions of collectivist thought. This paper argues that postmodernism should be regarded as one of three ‘moments’ in the development of leisure studies: the moment of functionalism; the moment of politicization; and the moment of postmodernism. An attempt is made to assess critically one of the leading representatives of the collectivist tradition: cultural studies. The arguments of this position are contrasted with those of postmodernism and an important division within cultural studies is identified.