Emancipating Leisure: The Recovery Of Freedom in Leisure

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Abstract
Freedom has been a frequent theme in the analysis of leisure. Existing conceptualizations of freedom in leisure focus on interior mental experiences and fail to acknowledge the historical horizon against which leisure occurs. This failure reinforces existing patterns of dominance. A critical theory of freedom in leisure addresses the deformation of leisure's emancipatory potential by exploring the horizon against which leisure occurs. J. Habermas's analysis of rationality types and the eclipse of leisure in the public sphere provides a framework for examining the diminished emancipatory potential of contemporary leisure, while a review of recent democratic theory illustrates the necessity of emancipating leisure for a restoration of democracy.