97 results on '"Rojek, Chris"'
Search Results
2. Simple solutions to wicked problems: Cultivating true believers of anti-vaccine conspiracies during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Author
-
Baker, Stephanie Alice, McLaughlin, Eugene, and Rojek, Chris
- Subjects
COVID-19 pandemic ,CONSPIRACY theories ,ANTI-vaccination movement ,EQUALITY ,DISINFORMATION ,INGROUPS (Social groups) - Abstract
The pandemic has produced an abundance of medical misinformation, disinformation and conspiracy theories about the safety and efficacy of vaccines. Many of these narratives appear impervious to scientific evidence and indifferent to the authority of the state. This has resulted in 'true believers' being cast as paranoid and irrational. In this article, we take a different approach by exploring the cultural appeal of anti-vaccine conspiracy theories about COVID-19. Drawing on qualitative analysis of two leading figures of the anti-vaccination movement – Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Joseph Mercola – we demonstrate how these influencers establish authority by staging indignation against a corrupt scientific establishment and positioning themselves as Truthers offering simple solutions to complex (wicked) problems. By conceptualising what we refer to as the Truther Playbook, we examine how anti-vaccine Truthers capitalise on existing grievances and conditions of low institutional trust to further solidify people's troubled relationship with institutional expertise while drawing attention to the structural conditions and social inequalities that facilitate belief in conspiracy theories. We contend that conspiracy theories offer not only offer alternative facts and narratives but are predicated on identification and in-group membership, highlighting the limits of debunking as a strategy to tackle disinformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
3. The larceny of the last second: the case for transcendence.
- Author
-
Rojek, Chris
- Abstract
This paper submits that the hegemonic order in celebrity studies is fixated upon questions of utility, yield and economic asset value. These technical considerations support a technocratic engagement with celebrity that exaggerates the importance of technology and linearity. By the same token, it devalues philosophical perspectives that address questions of Transcendence and Ultimate Meaning. The term 'Triangulation' is introduced to describe the dominant paradigm in celebrity studies. The paper develops the case that to ignore these philosophical issues impoverishes the domain of celebrity studies. The value of these questions is demonstrated by discussing the relevance of Kant's concepts of noumena and noumena, Hegel's account of World Historical Individuals. This material is used to advance the value of phenomenological perspectives, notably the contributions of Bergson and Husserl, in respect of time and space, in the analysis of celebrity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
4. The Belle Gibson scandal: The rise of lifestyle gurus as micro-celebrities in low-trust societies
- Author
-
Baker, Stephanie Alice and Rojek, Chris
- Published
- 2020
5. The Two Bodies of Achieved Celebrity
- Author
-
Rojek, Chris
- Published
- 2019
6. Peter Beilharz.
- Author
-
Rojek, Chris
- Subjects
- *
PROFESSIONAL relationships , *INTERPERSONAL relations , *CONVERSATION , *SOCIOLOGY - Abstract
The article focuses on the personal and professional relationship between the author, Chris Rojek, and Peter Beilharz, highlighting their encounters, conversations, and shared interests in sociology. Topics include their meetings, Peter's scholarly orientation, and the significant role Thesis Eleven played in bridging Australian sociology with the academic community and Chris Rojek reminisces about his interactions with Peter, highlighting their common ground as first-generation nationals.
- Published
- 2023
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
7. John Locke, Private Property and the Birth of Achieved Celebrity.
- Author
-
Rojek, Chris
- Subjects
PRIVATE property ,VISIBILITY ,CAPITAL ,PREREQUISITES (Education) - Abstract
This article argues that John Locke's defence of Natural Rights and private property are prerequisites in the rise of Achieved Celebrity. It addresses how the rights of private property are anterior to taking 'the ordinary citizen' as an object of attention capital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2022
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
8. Typologies of Education and the Capitalist World System
- Author
-
Rojek, Chris
- Published
- 1984
9. Problems of Involvement and Detachment in the Writings of Norbert Elias
- Author
-
Rojek, Chris
- Published
- 1986
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
10. Globalization, cosmopolitanism, and leisure rights: The flaws of the Sao Paulo Declaration.
- Author
-
Rojek, Chris
- Subjects
COSMOPOLITANISM ,BREXIT Referendum, 2016 ,GLOBALIZATION ,REAL wages ,LEISURE ,POLITICAL campaigns ,LAYOFFS - Abstract
Copyright of Society & Leisure / Loisir & Société is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
- Published
- 2022
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
11. The post-auratic president
- Author
-
Rojek, Chris
- Subjects
Presidents -- Psychological aspects ,Psychology and mental health ,Social sciences - Abstract
Americans have been taught to expect their presidents to be exalted figures. But the postwar figures, from JFK to LBJ, Nixon, Carter, Reagan, Bush, and Clinton, have presented a sorry roll call. Each figure possessed deep personality flaws. This article argues that Nixon was the last truly auratic president, that is, a leader who presented himself as being an exalted representative of the people in terms of his insight, courage, and convictions. However, the disastrous circumstances of his departure from the White House have punctured the auratic ideal. In contrast, Clinton's foibles bring him closer to public life. The sympathy that exists for his plight among large numbers of the public signifies the recognition that his weaknesses are common. This article argues that Clinton is the first post-auratic president, a fitting, depthless leader for an American polity in an age of media-based celebrities as leaders.
- Published
- 2002
12. Decorative sociology: towards a critique of the cultural turn
- Author
-
Rojek, Chris and Turner, Bryan
- Subjects
Sociology -- Methods ,Culture -- Analysis ,Postmodernism -- Analysis ,Sociology and social work - Abstract
In this paper we outline a critique of 'decorative sociology' as a trend in contemporary sociology where 'culture' has eclipsed the 'social' and where literary interpretation has marginalized sociological methods. By the term 'decorative sociology' we mean a branch of modernist aesthetics which is devoted to a politicized, textual reading of society and culture. Although we acknowledge slippage between the textual and material levels of cultural analysis, notably in the output of the Birmingham School, we propose that the intellectual roots of cultural' studies inevitably mean that the textual level is pre-eminent. In emphasizing the aesthetic dimension we seek to challenge the political self-image of decorative sociology as a contribution to political intervention. We argue that while the cultural turn has contributed to revising approaches to the relationships between identity and power, race and class, ideology and representation, it has done so chiefly at an aesthetic level. Following Davies (1993), we submit that the greatest achievement of the cultural turn has been to teach students to 'read politically'. The effect of this upon concrete political action is an empirical question. Without wishing to minimize the political importance of cultural studies, our hypothesis is that, what might be called the 'aestheticization of life' has not translated fully into the politicization of culture. We argue that an adequate cultural sociology would have to be driven by an empirical research agenda, embrace an historical and comparative framework, and have a genuinely sociological focus, that is, a focus on the changing balance of power in Western capitalism. We reject the attempt to submerge the social in the cultural and outline the development of an alternative, integrated perspective on body, self and society. We conclude by briefly commenting on three sociological contributions to the comparative and historical study of cultural institutions which approximate this research agenda: Norbert Elias, Pierre Bourdieu and Richard Sennett.
- Published
- 2000
13. Leisure Life: Myth, Masculinity and Modernity
- Author
-
Rojek, Chris
- Subjects
Leisure Life: Myth, Masculinity and Modernity (Book) -- Book reviews ,Books -- Book reviews - Published
- 2004
14. Designer notoriety: What the Lubitz case tells us about the accumulation of attention capital in celebrity culture.
- Author
-
Stewart, Simon, Giles, David, and Rojek, Chris
- Subjects
CELEBRITIES ,SAVINGS ,AIRBUS A320 ,HISTORICAL source material ,DESIGNERS ,HISTORICAL sociology ,SABOTAGE - Abstract
This article introduces the concept of designer notoriety to refer to calculated attempts to derail aspects of normative order so as to garner media attention. The objective is for otherwise unexceptional people to gain celebrity. The case of the alleged sabotage of Germanwings Airbus A320 Flight, by the co-pilot, Andreas Lubitz, in 2015, is used as a case study. Drawing on the methods of content analysis from various media sources and historical sociology, the article examines the media claim that Lubitz sought celebrity and planned the crash as a means to acquire media interest. Public receptivity to the notion of designer notoriety is investigated. It is related to three key concepts: 'the demotic turn', 'mediatization' and the 'world historic event'. The application of each concept to designer notoriety is set out and justified. The article ends by expanding the Lubitz case to refer to other examples of designer notoriety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2020
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
15. Contract or Con Trick Revisited: Comments on the Reply by Corden and Preston-Shoot
- Author
-
ROJEK, CHRIS and COLLINS, STEWART
- Published
- 1988
16. Contract or Con Trick?
- Author
-
ROJEK, CHRIS and COLLINS, STEWART A.
- Published
- 1987
17. The 'Subject' in Social Work
- Author
-
ROJEK, CHRIS
- Published
- 1986
18. The longue durée of Spengler’s thesis of the decline of the West.
- Author
-
Rojek, Chris
- Subjects
- *
LONGUE duree (Historiography) , *WESTERN civilization ,TREATY of Versailles (1919) - Abstract
Spengler’s The Decline of the West was a major publishing success in Weimar Germany. The study presents the end of Western civilization as an inevitable process of birth, maturity and death. Civilization is conceived as an inflexible ‘morphology’. Spengler’s thinking was influenced by a profound distaste with the optimism of the Belle Epoque, which he found to be complacent. The argument had a good deal of attraction to readers, especially German readers, who were suffering under the ‘Carthaginian Peace’ of the Treaty of Versailles of 1919. Adorno and others were critical of Spengler’s thesis. The article examines Spengler’s thesis and its implications for the West today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2018
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
19. TIME AND SOCIALIST CONSTRUCTION
- Author
-
Rojek, Chris
- Published
- 1984
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
20. The case of Belle Gibson, social media, and what it means for understanding leisure under digital praxis.
- Author
-
Rojek, Chris
- Subjects
SOCIAL media ,LEISURE ,SOCIOLOGY of blogging ,DIGITAL media - Published
- 2017
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
21. Paris, Wall Street: Reflections on the political crowd and labelling World Historical Events.
- Author
-
Rojek, Chris
- Subjects
- *
OCCUPY Wall Street protest movement , *NONVIOLENCE , *PUBLIC demonstrations - Abstract
This article examines the political crowd as a World Historical Event (WHE). Historians define the latter as an episode, incident or emergency that transforms the course of history. The article analyses Hayden White's discussion of the WHE and the grounds he submits for separating it from pseudo-events: namely, the identification of collective trauma and the attribution of the episode as the fulfilment or 'filling out' of an historical sequence. The article offers a preliminary taxonomy and concentrates on the non-violent political crowd protest. It examines Occupy (2011) as a World Historical Event. It draws comparisons between Occupy, the Paris Commune (1871) and the May Spring in Paris (1968). The aim is to set the evidence for Occupy as a World Historical Event against claims made on its behalf by the media of the day and leading political and social commentators, notably David Harvey, Todd Gitlin, Cornell West and Noam Chomsky. The concept of 'Event inflation' is introduced and the claim that World Historical Events can only be determined by retrospective (historical) wisdom is advanced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2017
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
22. F.J. Turner’s ‘frontier thesis’.
- Author
-
Rojek, Chris
- Subjects
- *
INVESTMENTS , *PERSONALITY , *VAUDEVILLE , *COLONIZATION - Abstract
American society was transformed by the expansion of capital Westward and the explosion in opportunities for land-grabbing and agricultural and industrial investment. F.J. Turner’s ([1893] 1961) frontier thesis portrays this transformation as the fulfilment of American character. The tensions between character and personality are examined following the ideas of Carl Schmitt on the significance of ‘the occasion’ in acquiring competitive advantage. Schmitt indicated the significance of a ‘vertical’ frontier in challenging social conventions and this constitutes a counterpoint to the ‘horizontal’ frontier developed in the frontier thesis of Turner. The importance of the occasion and personality in developing the American way of life is presented by an examination of the vaudeville and celebrity traditions in American entertainment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2017
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
23. Counterfeit Commerce: Relations of Production, Distribution and Exchange.
- Author
-
Rojek, Chris
- Subjects
PRODUCT counterfeiting ,CONSUMPTION (Economics) ,CAPITALISM ,SAVINGS ,CONSUMERISM - Abstract
Study of the consumption of counterfeit products casts consumers as reflexive agents who knowingly break the law (through the consumption of illegal commodities). Because this analysis is pitched at the level of meaning rather than structural constraints, it produces a misleading view of reflexive counterfeit consumption as being motivated by resistance or the wish to escape from normative coercion. This article contrasts this with approaches that prefigure meaning in explaining counterfeit commerce by treating the trade as an unavoidable structural feature of capitalism. That is, the structural logic of capital accumulation inevitably creates a black market of counterfeit commerce. It is a parasitic form of illegal consumerism which mirrors conventional capitalist organization, reproducing familiar dynamics of status differentiation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2017
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
24. Workers' self-management in the world system: the Yugoslav case
- Author
-
Rojek, Chris and Wilson, David C.
- Subjects
Yugoslavia -- Economic aspects ,Participatory management -- Yugoslavia ,Working class -- Management ,Works councils -- Yugoslavia ,Business ,Business, general - Abstract
This paper attempts to show that whilst the concept of self management was reasonable in the light of Yugoslavia's break from the Soviet bloc, its practice has proved problematic. It is argued that there are two inter-related reasons for this. First, self-management becomes largely a myth in a country which is interdependent with a dominantly capitalist worldwide market system and, second, it becomes difficult to sustain self-management in the light of factions and pressure groups which consistently put their own interests above those of the nation. Theoretically, the paper attempts to transcend the nation state as the primary level of analysis. It is argued that organizational relations in one country can only be understood in terms of the inter-state system of organizational relations. Self-management is likely to be problematic in a world economy which is dominated by the advanced capitalist core powers. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)
- Published
- 1987
25. Convergence, divergence and the study of organizations
- Author
-
Rojek, Chris
- Subjects
Organizational behavior -- Analysis ,Socialism -- Analysis ,Capitalism -- Analysis ,Labor economics -- Analysis ,Business ,Business, general - Abstract
It is often maintained that capitalist and socialist systems of organization are diametrically opposed. This paper uses convergence theory and the problem of divergence to attack this position. It is argued that socialist systems are economically integrated into the capitalist world economy, and further, that the ideology of divergence acts as a central dynamic in relations of production in the world economy. The world system perspective associated with neo-Marxist writers such as Wallerstein and Frank, is used to suggest an alternative framework for examining the organizational dynamics of 'capitalism' and 'socialism'. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.) 10
- Published
- 1986
26. Niccolo Machiavelli, cultural intermediaries and the category of achieved celebrity.
- Author
-
Rojek, Chris
- Subjects
POLITICAL science ,SOCIAL theory ,SOCIAL constructionism ,METAPHYSICS - Abstract
The escalating interest in celebrity studies has not translated into a serious enquiry into the origins of the subject in social and political theory. Instead, celebrity has been usually explained as either the reflection of industrialisation or the expression of timeless, unchanging fate. The result is a distorted, compressed time frame in which the phenomenon is located in unsatisfactory, metaphysical accounts of the position of celebrity in the social order. This paper aims to redress the balance by demonstrating the profound importance ofcultural intermediariesin the social construction of celebrity. I argue that the birth of cultural intermediaries lies in Florentine civic humanism. Machiavelli’sThe Princehas been celebrated as a major contribution to the acquisition and effective management of tyrannical power. There is ample reason to hold this view. At the same time, this interpretation is too limiting. When read from the standpoint of the rise of Florentine civic humanism, the text is also, transparently, a contribution to the successful engineering of renown. More particularly, in this respect, it offers a prototypical understanding of cultural intermediaries. As such, this paper contends that Machiavelli’s study is a seminal contribution to the study of celebrity. Machiavelli formulates impersonal principles on exposure management and the accumulation of attention capital that are presented as the preserve of civil experts. Far from being the high-water mark of tyrannical power,The Princeis evidence of the growth of civic humanism and the ascending importance of expertise in managing fame. The paper aims to revise the boundaries of celebrity studies by demonstrating the canonical significance of Machiavelli’s text. Further, it proposes that cultural intermediaries are seminal in the emergence and development of the fame economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2014
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
27. Leaderless Organization, World Historical Events and Their Contradictions: The ‘Burning Man City’ Case.
- Author
-
Rojek, Chris
- Subjects
CULTURAL studies ,ARAB Spring Uprisings, 2010-2012 ,CAPITAL financing ,SOCIAL integration ,SOCIAL contract - Abstract
‘Leaderless organizations’ are a seductive category in the field of Cultural Studies and critical organization studies. In the 1960s, arguably, Situationism made a fetish of the idea. Various authors made the case for direct, spontaneous action without the hierarchies and directive lead of conventional management structures. The Occupy protest movement revived this thinking. Following the Arab Spring (2011), it gained high media publicity for a series of occupations of prominent sites adjacent to international centres of finance capital. Global events provide a relevant parallel to this. Ever since Live Aid (1985) they have presented themselves as stateless solutions to international issues and emergencies. But are leaderless events possible in cultural management? This paper examines a neglected area in the sociology of culture: global event management and the type of social consciousness that it exploits and perpetuates. The Burning Man City annual event in Nevada is explored as a case of flat horizon strategy in cultural management. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]
- Published
- 2014
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
28. ‘Big Citizen’ celanthropy and its discontents.
- Author
-
Rojek, Chris
- Subjects
- *
CULTURAL studies , *MODERN society , *CHARITY , *CELEBRITIES , *STATELESS persons , *CORRUPTION - Abstract
Cultural Studies has not devoted much notice to one of the keynote developments in modern culture over the last 30 years: namely, the rise of various charity projects fronted and, in the public mind, defined by celebrities. Celanthropy – the transformation of causes into cause celebres via the public involvement of celebrities – is striking for the subtle shift in devolving the responsibilities of the state onto the shoulders of the citizens. It purports to offer ‘stateless solutions’, articulated by ‘Big Citizens’ (celebrities), for domestic problems and the ills of the world (hunger, inequality, injustice, corruption, pollution). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2014
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
29. Global Event Management: a critique.
- Author
-
Rojek, Chris
- Subjects
- *
EVENT management , *LEISURE education , *SOCIAL interaction , *FIFA World Cup , *NEOLIBERALISM , *COMMUNITARIANISM in literature , *SOCIETIES - Abstract
Within the professional Event Management literature considerable claims have been made for Event Management. Investment in the area and student enrolments has risen dramatically. In some circles, Event Management is portrayed as challenging Leisure Studies and even undermining it. However, if one examines the professional literature, one quickly finds that it is overwhelmingly uncritical and self-congratulatory. The relationship between Events, manipulation, corruption and social control has not been rigorously examined. This paper distinguishes the main types of Global Event (Single Issue and Cyclical). It attempts a balanced account of the claims made by Event Management. It examines data from Live Aid, the FIFA World Cup and the Sydney Olympics to test the claims against practice. It also includes two longer examinations of Global Event Management, namely the Sydney Mardi Gras and the Live 8 (2005) concert. The paper concludes that Event Management is based in principles from neo-liberalism and communitarianism. This produces an attitude to Events and leisure which is Reformist. This perspective is contrasted with the critical tradition in Leisure Studies which supports a more radical perspective on leisure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2014
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
30. Celanthropy, music therapy and ‘big-citizen’ Samaritans.
- Author
-
Rojek, Chris
- Subjects
MUSIC therapy ,EQUALITY ,MUSICIANS - Abstract
Music therapy is a vigorous, well-established field of theory and practice. The attribution of healing power to music goes a long way back. However, sinceLive Aid(1985) a new dimension of music therapy has emerged. This pertains to the role played by unqualified music superstars who act as activists and diplomats providing music therapy for mankind. World-renowned celebrities like Sir Bob Geldof, Bono, Sting, Michael Stipe and Madonna transfer the kudos they have won in the field of popular entertainment to produce stateless solutions to global incidents and emergencies, and wider questions of inequality, hunger and injustice. They act as self-appointed global ‘big citizens’. They are unelected and mostly accountable. Yet they have the ear of many elected world leaders and the widespread support of the public. This aggregate tendency is known by the name of celanthropy. It represents a remarkable switch in attention capital from state departments of health, education and foreign aid to celebrity advocates and campaigners. The celebrity big citizen is now the focal point of what might be termed stateless solutions to many global ills. This paper examines the rise of this new relationship between celanthropy and music therapy. It demonstrates the contradictions involved, not least in the matter of trying to live with capitalism, rather than to change the way in which it works as a system of organised inequality and sanctioned injustice. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]
- Published
- 2013
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
31. Is Marx still relevant to the study of leisure?
- Author
-
Rojek, Chris
- Subjects
- *
MARXIST philosophy , *LEISURE , *NEOLIBERALISM , *POSTSTRUCTURALISM , *POPULAR culture , *OVERPRODUCTION - Abstract
This paper is an attempt to reaffirm the relevance of Marxism for Leisure Studies. It is motivated by the view that the influence of Marxism on the field was late and short lived (primarily through Clarke and Critcher’s bookThe Devil Makes Work(1985)). Marxism in Leisure Studies was rapidly eclipsed by the revival of neo-liberal approaches and the ascent of post-structuralism which privileged ‘discourse’, ‘coding’ and ‘representation’ over economics and class. The fall of the Berlin Wall and the so-called ‘velvet revolution’ in Eastern Europe seemed to expose Marxism as passé and wrong headed. The serious Western economic crisis following the banking collapse (2008) and its effects on employment, work prospects, public investment in welfare, education, health and leisure, together with the persistence of the development gap between the economically advanced countries and the emerging/developing world, and the threat to the environment and society of competitive industrial production, combine (with many other features) to put Marxism back on the agenda. This paper aims to examine the impact of Marxism upon Leisure Studies. It offers a rationale for why this influence was short lived. It moves on to evaluate some aspects of Marxism that are indispensable in the analysis of leisure today. The point is not to claim that Marxism was right all along. More modestly, the purpose of this article is to suggest that flight from Marxism in the field was premature and that, while by no means having all of the answers, Marx and his followers still have much to teach students of leisure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2013
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
32. Leisure and emotional intelligence: A response to my commentators.
- Author
-
ROJEK, CHRIS
- Abstract
The article presents a response by British sociologist Chrisk Rojek to his study which focused on the relations of emotional intelligence and leisure. Rojek states that the concepts of emotional labor and emotional intelligence deal with the organization of credibility and the people's appearance of competence. He mentions that it is possible that emotional labor may lead to volunteer and philanthropic acts.
- Published
- 2010
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
33. George Ritzer and the Crisis of the Public Intellectual.
- Author
-
Rojek, Chris
- Subjects
- *
PUBLISHING , *INTELLECTUALS , *EDUCATION , *SOCIOLOGY , *MONOGRAPHIC series , *TEXTBOOKS - Abstract
The article explains the pedagogic and publishing success of the book "The McDonaldization of Society" by George Ritzer. The publishing of the academic book that is a pedagogic success in academic sociology is organized into four categories including research monographs, modular texts and textbooks. The article presents notes on the four categories and the reasons for the success of the book "The McDonaldization of Society" is explained. The article defines public intellectuals as the people possessing special media skills.
- Published
- 2007
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
34. Leisure and Consumption.
- Author
-
Rojek, Chris
- Abstract
Copyright of Leisure/Loisir: Journal of the Canadian Association for Leisure Studies is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
- Published
- 2006
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
35. Sports Celebrity and the Civilizing Process.
- Author
-
Rojek, Chris
- Subjects
SOCIAL status ,DEMOCRATIZATION ,PROFESSIONAL athletes ,CELEBRITY athletes ,SOCIOLOGY of sports ,ROLE models - Abstract
One of the most important concepts in the figurational/process sociological approach is also one of the most under-examined: functional democratization. This refers to the tendency of functional specialization and the division of labour to diminish imbalances in the power balance between groups. The essay discusses the concept and, drawing on Emile Durkheim's concept of ‘egoism’, argues that the rise of celebrity culture provides an important challenge for the concept. The Sports Star is now the object of intense emotional attachment from fans. This exceeds an attachment based upon appreciation of sporting prowess. The leading Sports Stars, in common with the leading celebrities from celebrity culture, are adopted as role models by fans and their lives are followed as parables of normative behaviour. A new term, invasive egoism, is introduced to describe the development of fantasy relationships between the fan and the sports star. Invasive egoism can produce over-close identification between fans and their idols, so that the media representations of the star's life become the fulcrum for measuring changes and moments of significance in the life of the fan. The rise of the Sports Star is related to the onslaught of the commodification of sports culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2006
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
36. Something for Nothing: The Controversy over P2P File Exchange and Its Implications for Leisure.
- Author
-
Rojek, Chris
- Abstract
Abstract. This paper examines the controversy over P2P (Peer To Peer) file exchange in which users have made their record collections available on the internet as a gift relationship. Copyright holders allege that their rights are circumvented by this practice and have encouraged organizations like the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) to lobby their case. This has led to the passing ofthe Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) which severely restricts the exchange of intellectual property protected by copyright on the internet. Yet this legislation has manifestly failed to prevent copyright violation. Illegal downloading especially of recordings, but also of film, software and graphic art, has become normalized. Moreover, American Courts have legitimated the practice by ruling against the right of copyright holders to restrict gift relationships through internet exchange. The issue raises the First Amendment legislation which guarantees the right of free speech and innovation. The controversy illustrates that internet browsers may engage in illicit leisure practice merely through seeking to maximize the functionality of their computers and the access offered by the internet. The paper examines the many sides of this controversy and concludes that the copyright holder's case to restrict the practice of the internet gift relationship will almost certainly produce more abuses than gains for civil liberty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2006
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
37. On a rant by a little musketeer: A reply to Bill Schwarz.
- Author
-
Rojek, Chris
- Subjects
- *
CRITICISM , *BOOKS , *CULTURAL studies , *POPULAR culture studies ,REVIEWS - Abstract
This article is a response to Bill Scharz's review of my book, Stuart Hall (Polity, 2003). The circumstances of his 'review' and my response to it are outlined in the first two pages of the article. My book was the first full-length treatment of the published work of Stuart Hall. Hall's Directorship of the Birmingham Centre is widely agreed to be courageous and the source of an exciting and stimulating intellectual and political environment. As such it bred unusually strong ties of loyalty to both Hall and the project of Cultural Studies that he inspired. Schwarz's 'review' richly illustrates this loyalty and pays fulsome tribute to the intellectual debt that Schwarz owes to Hall. My article tries to rescue the central arguments that I made in the book from the spin Schwarz puts upon them. It also tries to give an interpretation for the approach he adopts and to show why I believe it possesses insuperable limitations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2005
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
38. P2P Leisure Exchange: Net Banditry and the Policing of Intellectual Property.
- Author
-
Rojek, Chris
- Subjects
- *
LEISURE , *PEER-to-peer file sharing , *INTELLECTUAL property , *CULTURE , *SOUND recording industry , *AMUSEMENTS - Abstract
This paper examines P2P (file sharing) culture as a novel leisure form. P2P raises significant issues about the ownership and control of intellectual and artistic property, access and the regulation of leisure choice. The paper examines the efforts of the recording industry to suppress file‐sharing technology. It examines the limitations on this strategy associated with globalized leisure culture. Following the World Leisure and Recreation Association’s ‘Sao Paulo Declaration’ (1998), it is possible to interpret P2P as a leisure form that fosters social inclusion, empowerment and distributive justice. This leaves the recording industry in the awkward position of seeking both to impose limitations on the functionality of computer exchange technology and to regulate participation in a mass popular cultural and leisure form. The culture of down‐loading is located in relation to the tradition of social banditry. Down‐loading is presented as part of much more long‐standing, deeply rooted traditions of leisure practice in which identity formation and resistance to regimes of power are mediated. Net technology and the corresponding supply of intellectual and artistic property on the net is regarded as weakening the orthodox distinction between licit and illicit consumption and leisure. The paper closes by speculating upon the theoretical implications of these social and cultural developments for the study of leisure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2005
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
39. An outline of the action approach to leisure studies.
- Author
-
ROJEK, CHRIS
- Subjects
- *
LEISURE , *ETHICS , *SOCIOLOGY , *WEBERIAN apparatus , *POSTMODERNISM (Philosophy) , *SOCIAL interaction - Abstract
This paper is a position paper. It seeks to set a new and distinctive approach to the study of leisure that combines theory, practice and ethics. It stands on the shoulders of 'action sociology', as represented in the Weberian tradition, and symbolic interactionism. But it offers a radical renewal of this perspective by relating action to 'embodiment', 'emplacement', 'location' and 'context', and repositioning leisure studies in relation to 'care for the self' and 'care for the other'. The paper is concerned to elucidate a renewed action approach and to demonstrate its value for the study of leisure. It does not aim to compare or contrast this approach systematically with other positions in the field. The action approach identifies 'testing' to be a duty of all theoretical propositions. It regards leisure to be intrinsically political. The paper distinguishes the differences between postmodernism and the action approach. The paper ends with a suggested research agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2005
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
40. The Consumerist Syndrome in Contemporary Society.
- Author
-
Rojek, Chris
- Subjects
- *
CONSUMPTION (Economics) , *CONSUMERS , *DESIRE , *MODERNISM (Christian theology) , *SOCIOLOGY - Abstract
This interview examines the relations between production and consumption and the significance of what Bauman calls 'the consumerist syndrome'. The latter is defined by the desire for instant satisfaction. The article distinguishes the consumerist syndrome from Veblen's concept of conspicuous consumption. It breaks with the 20th century practice of regarding consumer preoccupations and activities as derivative of needs and suggests that consumption is now driven by infinite desire. Bauman sets the consumer syndrome in relation to his concept of liquid modernity. The choices of the modern consumer are set against unfulfilled options. The notion of using consumption as a form of resistance is examined and criticized. The article concludes with some reflections on the condition of sociological activity today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2004
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
41. An Anatomy of the Leicester School of Sociology.
- Author
-
Rojek, Chris
- Subjects
- *
INTERVIEWING , *COLLEGE teachers , *SOCIOLOGY , *SOCIOLOGY education , *SOCIAL sciences - Abstract
This article focuses on Leicester School of Sociology, and presents an interview of Eric Dunning, professor at Leicester School of Sociology. Eric Dunning is a prominent figure in the sociology of sport and has lectured widely throughout the world. Eric Dunning enrolled as a student in Leicester in 1956 and remains there to this day as an emeritus professor of sociology. His position as probably the best known advocate of the figurational/process perspective in Great Britain, together with his career connections with the Department of Sociology at Leicester, makes him uniquely placed to comment on the rise of the Leicester School. This interview sheds light on an important chapter in the development of British sociology, and attempts to assess the Leicester tradition of sociological activity. The British tradition in sociology has always tended to be more insular than its continental counterparts. The article further focuses on the interview where Dunning shares several facts regarding Leicester School of Sociology.
- Published
- 2004
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
42. Leisure and Life Politics.
- Author
-
Rojek, Chris
- Subjects
- *
LEISURE -- Social aspects , *SOCIAL theory , *LABOR supply , *CITIZENSHIP - Abstract
From the debate on the transformation of society, two theses have emerged which are of central relevance to social thought regarding leisure. First, the post work thesis argues that society is moving into a condition in which the cybernation of labor dramatically reduces the working week and the concomitant notion of the work career. One task of social theory is therefore the review of resource distribution, notably time allocation, in the light of the radically revised demand for labor. The second thesis is that the established institutions of politics, especially party politics, are of declining significance in everyday life and that they are being replaced by life politics, that is, a syncretic, non-party form of social and cultural orientation focusing on issues of lifestyle, environment, and globalization. This article shows the relevance of the life politics and post work arguments for understanding the future of leisure. It examines the concept of civil labor and points to tensions with traditional ideas of leisure. It is a contribution to the debate on leisure policy and the projection of trends in leisure practice. Finally, it concludes that the relationship between leisure and citizenship rights will be of dominant importance in the unfolding debate on the future of leisure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2001
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
43. Leisure and the rich today: Veblen's thesis after a century.
- Author
-
Rojek, Chris
- Subjects
- *
LEISURE class , *LEISURE - Abstract
This paper calls for a revisionist reading of the thesis of the leisure class. Veblen's great work The Theory of the Leisure Class (1899) argued that society is ruled by a leisure class. The primary identifying characteristics of this class are prodigious wealth, voluntary abnegation from pecuniary labour and conspicuous consumption. Veblen's argument suggested the decomposition of the work ethic because the characteristics cultivated by the rich would be emulated by the lower orders. Schor's The Overworked American (1991) work suggests that overwork, not leisure is one of the primary identifying characteristics of postwar culture. The article uses statistical and biographical data on the rich today to provide a counterpoint to Veblen's thesis. It is argued that the rich are not characterized by a rejection of work. On the contrary the richest people in the world typically work longer hours than the average. For these individuals work adopts a play form which probably contrasts sharply with wider social experience. Data on the leisure of Bill Gates, Warren Buffett and Richard Branson is examined to assemble a position on leisure and the rich which contrasts with the Veblen thesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2000
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
44. Reviewing Veblen's View of the Rich.
- Author
-
Rojek, Chris
- Subjects
- *
RICH people , *CRITICISM - Abstract
Reviews the 1899 work of Thorstein Veblen, `The Theory of the Leisure Class,' regarding rich people. Public invincibility of the rich; Information on Bill Gates, founder and owner of Microsoft, and Warren Buffett, chief executive officer of Berkshire-Hathaway, two of the richest people in the world; Three developments that have combined to transform the dynamic emulatory conduct of the rich that Veblen failed to anticipate.
- Published
- 1999
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
45. 'Leisure' in the writings of Walter Benjamin.
- Author
-
Rojek, Chris
- Subjects
- *
LEISURE , *CONSUMPTION (Economics) - Abstract
The work of Walter Benjamin has achieved belated recognition in the social sciences as one of the most prescient accounts of modernity. However, it is not generally recognized that Benjamin also provides the first theory of leisure as an inevitably politicized type of activity. By tying the expansion of leisure to the rise of consumer culture and the development of modernity, Benjamin showed why leisure is fated to become beset with conflict. At the root of this is the idea that the increasing reflexivity produced by the growth of leisure time and space exposes the political fetters on leisure experience in capitalist society. In this paper the essential features of Benjamin's analysis as they pertain to understanding and studying leisure are considered. These are taken to be his concepts of modernity, phantasmagoria, aura and flanerie. The meaning of each concept is addressed and related to the wider theme of leisure experience. An attempt to show the value of Benjamin's approach compared with current influential positions in the field of leisure theory is made. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 1997
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
46. Tourism and Citizenship.
- Author
-
Rojek, Chris
- Subjects
TOURISM ,CITIZENSHIP ,MASS tourism ,TERRORISM ,TOURISTS ,SERVICE industries - Abstract
In this article, the author explores the theoretical relations between tourism and citizenship. The author begins with several changes in the structure of tourism that transform the state of affairs, including the growing prominence of tourism in national and international life and the environmental consequences of mass tourism. He also indicates the increase in the number of terrorist incidents involving tourists. In addition, the author explores the dichotomy between the situated citizen and the mobile tourist.
- Published
- 1998
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
47. The limits of 'the new industrial relations'
- Author
-
Rojek, Chris
- Subjects
INDUSTRIAL relations ,CAPITALISM - Abstract
Offers a critique of important contributions made by the `new' approach in the debate on the structure and development of industrial relations in capitalist society. Features of the new industrial relations approach; Influence of the struggle between capital and labour on social and economic relations; Terms of reference for the process of capitalism; Problem of transcending capitalist forms of organization.
- Published
- 1984
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
48. Veblen, leisure and human need.
- Author
-
Rojek, Chris
- Published
- 1995
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
49. After popular culture: hyperreality and leisure.
- Author
-
Rojek, Chris
- Published
- 1993
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
50. Disney culture.
- Author
-
Rojek, Chris
- Published
- 1993
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
Catalog
Discovery Service for Jio Institute Digital Library
For full access to our library's resources, please sign in.