Logo

This volume addresses the rich and varied thoughts, concepts, approaches and leisure practices in sixteen countries of the three continents – Australia, Asia and Africa. Per continent listed in alphabetical order in this volume information is provided on the development of leisure in: Australia and New Zealand for the continent Australia; China, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Japan, Korea, The Philippines and Turkey for Asia; and, Africa (a summarizing article), Morocco, Mozambique, Nigeria and South Africa for the African continent.

As far as the approach and contents are concerned, the chapters show a rich variety. What they have in common, however, is the notion that, seemingly, though named and shaped differently in respective societies and manifesting themselves in many forms and ways, concepts and practices of leisure are found all over the world, from pre-historic settlements to the present day modern mass media societies. Seemingly, being at leisure is a human species’ capacity that comes at birth and flowers in a variety of individual and societal contexts. Even where leisure is given little room and chance to come to the surface and get official recognition as being an aspect of life that deserves attention from the authorities too, it is contextual, because it is shaped by the societal circumstances, such as being colonized or being extremely work-centered. This is a welcome initiative to produce a book on the developments in leisure from a global and comparative perspective.