Leisure and Welfare in Britain from the Industrial Revolution to the Second World War by Snape, Robert;

Long description:

Tracing the evolution of social thought on leisure in Britain from the industrial revolution to the present day, this book documents an alternative and almost totally ignored discourse of leisure as a field of welfare. Investigating evolving understandings of leisure in social philosophy, the nascent social sciences and welfare economics, it explores the ways in which leisure became a field of individual and social welfare in terms of personal growth, cultural democracy and social citizenship. While the social philosophy of ancient Athens remained a reference point, new modern meanings of leisure were forged in the intellectual and political cross-currents of late Victorian and Edwardian political economy, the 'new' liberalism and social ethics. In terms of welfare economics, the book's pivotal figure is John Hobson, a self-declared economic heretic, who adopted Ruskin's idea of intrinsic value as the basis of a new political economy in which leisure would be crucial to individual and social well-being. Providing a unique contribution to the historiography of leisure and welfare and to current debate around wellbeing and work, this is a timely and interdisciplinary book.

Table of Contents:

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1. Introduction.- 2. The Re-invention of Leisure in Nineteenth-century Britain.- 3. The Theorisation and Organisation of Leisure: The New Liberalism and Social Ethics.- 4. Leisure, Community and Welfare: Social Reconstruction in Interwar Britain.- 5. The Consumption of Leisure in Post-First World War Britain.- 6. Leisure in the Social Service State.- 7. The Retreat of the State.