Cultivating a Leisurely Life in a Culture of Crowded Time: Rethinking the Work/Leisure Dichotomy

The appropriation of the discourse of ‘work/life balance’, in the midst of a culture of crowded time, may well be the leisure fraternity's most felicitous action. This paper however, cautions against this move, arguing that it is likely to perpetuate the dominant cultural paradigm of ‘the employment society’ and the further subjugation of a leisurely life to the temporal demands of work. It draws on the findings of recent ethnographic research into four social groups and/or movements that have attempted to reframe the notion of a desirable lifestyle, away from that of a work/life balance. Their ideal lifestyle assumes a re-ordering of temporalities which challenges the commodification of leisure implicit in the work/leisure dichotomy, the aim being to regain greater control of their time and the space in which to exercise increased life choices. The implications of this study are far reaching for the leisure industry and those commentators who rely so heavily on the work/leisure dichotomy, since it demonstrates that there are many people whose primary aim is to replace the work/leisure paradigm with something more liberating and meaningful—which will deliver a more seamless lifestyle that is not dependent on the traditional temporal schemata of obligation.