Leisure studies is for experience, not for industry

UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
Justin Harmon, Assistant Professor (Creator)
Institution
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/

Abstract: In the last decade, some in the field of leisure studies have embraced the experience economy/industry model introduced by Pine and Gilmore (2011) in the late 1990s. While tenets of the experience industry can be found earlier in leisure studies, especially in regards to programing and event management, the idea that experiences should be manufactured for leisurists has become in vogue. This is clearly evidenced by programs at Brigham Young University and California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, which have both changed their departmental names to reflect the embrace of this ethos. This article critiques the experience industry model and points out the collateral damage that will befall the field, and society, if the concept is embraced throughout the field.

Additional Information

Publication
Scholé: A Journal of Leisure Studies & Recreation Education, 33(2), 47-54. doi: 10.1080/1937156X.2018.1513272
Language: English
Date: 2018
Keywords
Experience, experience industry, leisure, inauthenticity

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