Individuals Can Use Leisure and Tourism to Form and Express Their Identity - Literature review Example

Individuals can use Leisure and Tourism to form and express their identity What is Lifestyle? “Lifestyle is…the specific pattern of everyday activities that characterizes an individual. Each individual’s lifestyle is unique: it is not identical to anyone else’s. But at the same time, lifestyles orient themselves towards the common and the social…We choose lifestyles in relation to other people.” (Boride ,1984: 124-5) What is Leisure Lifestyle? A stream in lifestyle studies. Attempts to identify patterns/ clusters of leisure activates across different population groups. What is identity? Researchers have noted a divide between personal (individual) and social (collective) identities (Cohen, 2010). Social identities are “those we attribute or impute to others, situating them as social objects” (Collinson & Hockey, 2007, p. 383) Personal identities refer to the meanings we attribute to the self (Collinson &Hockey, 2007) Leisure, lifestyle and identity: Marxist understanding of leisure Remember the previous class? Relates leisure to the wider social order. leisure play a key role as a site of class conflict (working class/ capitalists) This understanding can be applied to a variety of conflicts in the capitalist society (ethnic groups, age, gender, youth sub-culture) Leisure, lifestyle and identity: Weberian understanding of leisure Weber suggests an alternative system for distinguishing social groups- status. Whereas the class of a group is defined by its relationship to the economic order, a status group is determined by lifestyle and prestige. Are class and status completely independent? Individuals are now able to use leisure to construct styles of life, which may become markers of their social positions and identities (Roberts, 2006, Veal 1989). “Through the lifestyles they construct people can become almost whoever they want” (Roberts, 2006: 166) Identity and Tourism “The issue of identity is omnipresent in discourses on tourism - not only in academically informed discourses on tourism, but also in discourses from inside the tourism system, i.e. the local participants - as the contributions by Bras, Schlehe, Senft, and Venbrux exemplify.” (Dahles H, Meijl T, 1999) Original target group can afford low-cost holidays: holiday centres adapt product. New excluded groups: unemployed, young families on low incomes, single parent families etc. New target groups: eco-tourism and socio-tourism greater access for persons with disabilities Development power of tourism much more recognised today: host-related initiatives Avialable at http://www.iias.nl/iiasn/19/theme/1.html Relationship between Leisure and Tourism Everyone has the right to rest on a daily, weekly and yearly basis, and the right to the leisure time that enables them to develop every aspect of their personality and their social integration. Clearly, everyone is entitled to exercise this right to personal development. The right to tourism is a concrete expression of this general right, and social tourism is underpinned by the desire to ensure that it is universally accessible in practice. What is Social Science? ‘Social science is, in its broadest sense, the study of society and the manner in which people behave and impact on the world around us’ (Economic and Social Research Council, 2010). What is psychology? Psychology is concerned with individual experience and behaviour where focus is on mental processes. Marxist Understanding of Leisure: Leisure is not free! Leisure mirrors capitalist society; Leisure is packaged, promoted and processed for mass markets – note the package holiday in tourism Leisure consumed by the masses in a passive, obedient and uncritical way. Leisure in capitalist societies thus a form of social control – note here the role of big tourism businesses within developed countries and between developed and developing countries. Social Action Theory A number of different perspectives included under this umbrella including interactionism (George Herbert Mead and Herbert Blumer) and phenomenology (Edmund Husserl) Interactionists agree that individuals are constrained by societal structures but emphasise that there is still room for individual choice. Individuals have the ability to interpret and understand Greater focus is on individuals’ interaction with society Individuals are able to influence and control their own world Phenomenology especially is concerned with the question of how we give meaning to and interpret the world around us Questions arise about how, for example, we interpret or understand leisure and tourism Studies of leisure and tourism can be located within the social sciences – we can understand tourism and leisure from psychological and sociological approaches. Psychology seeks to understand the individual – in tourism most studies surround the issue of motivation. Sociology seeks to understand societal influences on individual behaviour. Two main strands of sociology - structuralism (consensus and conflict theories) and social action theory (interactionism, phenomenology). Rise of consumption society - leisure and tourism as forms of consumption. The Lifestyle Travellers An emic primacy given to lifestyle in participant accounts: Some would look at me as a bum; I would feel a bit sorry for them if they look at me like that. What’s really developed in my real lifestyle. (Max, English, 40, 17 years lifestyle travel [LT]) Travelling was so much introduced to me as a baby that it became much more of an option as a way of life. There’s no year in my life that hasn’t involved travel. This type of movement and constant change is very much a part of me and my lifestyle. (Tamara, Canadian/Indian, 34, 17 years LT) Approaches to Self Identity It was a goal to know myself, and travel just kind of went along with it. (Charlotte, Canadian, 26, 3 years LT) I was tired of looking for something, and I was trying just to stop my looking and just finding. In India, I found what I was looking for. I found myself. (Felipe, Cuban, 29, 3 years LT) Everything’s changing constantly, as are you. So the guy who I am today isn’t necessarily the guy I am tomorrow. (Thomas, English, 29, 3 years LT) I suppose it’s that you can just shed a life each time you change places. You can just change your life each time you want to go somewhere new. (Barry, English, 32, 3 years LT) human beings as self-contained unitary individuals who carry their uniqueness deep inside themselves, like pearls hidden in their shells’ (Burkitt, 1991) – discourse of Romanticism A relational view on selves – Opposing and widely accepted sociological view of self as a social phenomenon that is dialogically constructed and situational Rather than one fixed essentialist self, each individual performs multiple selves that are contextually dependent and fluid “Young people’s increased leisure opportunities can actually keep them in their parents’ house because they spend their money on entertainment, rather than setting up an independent home.” (Jones, 2009) “This is a situation that has only been possible since the end of World War II, with changes in technology and increased opportunities for leisure. The creation of pop culture – music, movies, fashion, television – was possible because of mass communication, and it gives young people a way to create individual identities and have a social life based on leisure and consumption that relates to their sub-cultural identities.” (Leccardi & Ruspini, 2006). According to Sutton P & House J: New Age tourism has its roots in the counter cultural movements of the 1960’s (Rigby 1974) and the New Age Movement (Heelas 1996) of the 1980’s. The most salient characteristics of this form of tourism are a preoccupation with the self, in which self development becomes a leisure activity, (people become tourists in their own identity), and an ecological sensibility. It is our contention that New Age tourism, although relatively marginal and undeveloped, is a significant form of tourism which reflects the influence of postmodern culture. Leisure enhances social links throughout the life. “Leisure can provide opportunities to gain social competencies through play, social groups and the inherent social interaction.” (Lord M, 1997) Russell (1996) states: Leisure enables children to develop appropriate skills for social interaction, cultural ritual, personal autonomy, and sex roles. A childs play becomes the learning laboratory for motor skill development, language development and initial social interaction. Teens use leisure to establish social networks and personal identity. Leisure is often the sole link of older adults to the outside world. Individuals with disabilities can experience the same growth through leisure as mainstream society. Leisure service providers have not only an opportunity but responsibility to positively impact the inclusion movement and thereby the lives of individuals with developmental disabilities. Coleman and Iso-Ahola (1993) suggested that social isolation may be caused due to the result of lack of social competence. Similarly, people who talk less with others also have minimal chances of developing social competence. “The role of a leisure practitioner is to help break this cycle by providing opportunities to interact in a variety of social settings, with varying social expectations, and with a diverse spectrum of people, so as to develop the necessary social competence. This should in turn lead to increased interaction.” (Lord M, 1997) Conclusion: According to Falk J (2009), more and more number of people in the present age have started viewing leisure and tourism as a way of expanding their understanding about themselves, people around them and the world in general which is more in the case of coastal and marine tourism. He added; As we continue to transition into this new Knowledge Age, leisure and learning will become increasingly infectious. More and more people will be seeking to spend more of their time engaging in leisure experiences that afford opportunities to both better understand the world and better understand themselves, because leisure experiences that enable us to learn will also enable us to build identity. References: Cohen, S. (2010). Personal identity (de)formation among lifestyle travellers: A double-edged sword? Leisure Studies, 29 (3): 289-301. Bell, D & Hollows, J. (2006). Towards a history of lifestyle. In D. Bell (Ed.), Historicizing Lifestyle: Mediating Taste, Consumption and Identity from the 1900s to 1970s (pp. 1-20). Brookfield, VT: Ashgate. Hannam, K. & Diekmann, A. (2010). Beyond backpacker tourism: Mobilities and experiences. Bristol, Channel View Publications. Jones, G., (2009) Youth, Cambridge: Polity Press Leccardi, C., & Ruspini, E., (2006) A New Youth? Young People, Generations and Family Live, Aldershot: Ashgate Sutton P & House J. The New Age of Tourism: Post Modern Tourism for Postmodern People Lord M (1997). Leisures role in enhancing social competencies of individuals with developmental disabilities - Research Update. Available at http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1145/is_n4_v32/ai_19377770/ Russell, R. (1996). Pastimes: The Context of Contemporary Leisure. Madison, WI: Brown and Benchmark Publishers. Coleman, D. and Iso-Ahola, S. (1993). Leisure and health: The Role of Social Support and Self-Determination. Journal of Leisure Research, 25, 111-128. Falk J (2009). The Learning Tourist: The role of identity-related visit motivations. Available at http://www.cmt2009.com/Proceedings/content/CMT2009_A_003.pdf Read More