Celebrating, challenging and re-envisioning serious leisure

In this article, we explore and expand theorizing about serious leisure examining its complexities and contradictions and its potential for the social sphere, applying particularly the critical lens of feminist communitarianism. Beginning with a critique of the reliance on activity-based definitions of serious leisure in empirical research and conceptualizations of serious leisure as embedded in a series of dualisms such as positive–negative, work–leisure and serious–casual, we suggest serious leisure be re-envisioned as a complex experience influencing and influenced by the sociopolitical context. We also explore the functional, normative nature of previous literature on serious leisure and the possibility of re-envisioning serious leisure as an expressive and creative experience that nurtures diversity. Advocating for increased attention to the sociopolitical context and the adoption of a critical lens, we suggest that serious leisure experiences may be gendered, commodified and stratified. We advocate for a more complex analysis of serious leisure linked to social and political spheres and celebrate its potential as an avenue for nurturing social ties and building identity. Finally, based on the preceding analysis, we offer a re-envisioned definition of serious leisure for consideration.