(Re)Theorizing Leisure, Experience and Race

AbstractLeisure scholars have attempted to examine experience through a social-psychological lens that locates the individual and her/his interpretation of leisure experiences at the center of discussions about leisure, leisure experience and identity. However, this primarily social-psychological perspective lacks an accompanying discussion about the ideologies and discourses that structure those experiences. The purpose of this paper is to examine how "leisure experience" has been conceptualized and how individuals have been represented in terms of race in the Leisure Studies literature. It is not a call to abandon Leisure Studies' focus on individuals and their experiences of leisure. Rather, it is an attempt to offer alternative strategies for how to (re) conceptualize and conduct kinds of research that account for individual experiences within broader discourses of ideology and power.