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A People’s History of Leisure Studies: Old Knowledge, New Knowledge and The Philadelphia Negro as a Foundational Text

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Abstract

There is a great realization that a professor teaching an introductory or philosophical foundations course in the field of leisure studies comes to, if that professor may not be from the dominant culture of most Western societies. This realization is as stark as their numerical presence in their respective departments. Why are the philosophical foundations of the field devoid of the experiences, voices, and perspectives populations of colour, or even more broadly, the populations of the global majority? The objectives of this manuscript are: 1) to briefly categorize the research in the field on Race and ethnicity; 2) to outline the key canonical texts of the field; 3) to consider and reconceptualize a racially and ethnically inclusive foundation for the field utilizing W. E. B. Du Bois’ (1899) The Philadelphia Negro: A Social Study as an example. Within the 520 pages of The Philadelphia Negro, the term leisure is mentioned 21 times. Recreation as a term is used 19 times; and, 4) to identify how the integration of The Philadelphia Negro could impact or realign the field’s history and master narratives and master concepts. What we are granted in leisure studies through the addition of The Philadelphia Negro as a foundational text is quite possibly the first sociological study, the first empirical study, the first large sample study, and the first mixed methods designed study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Recreation, Park, and Tourism Studies, School of Public Health, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA

    Rasul A. Mowatt

  2. Department of American Studies, College of Arts & Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA

    Rasul A. Mowatt

  3. Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Management, College of Natural Resources, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA

    Myron F. Floyd

  4. Research Centre: Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Leeds Beckett University, Leeds, UK

    Kevin Hylton

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Mowatt, R.A., Floyd, M.F. & Hylton, K. A People’s History of Leisure Studies: Old Knowledge, New Knowledge and The Philadelphia Negro as a Foundational Text. Int J Sociol Leis 1, 55–73 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41978-017-0004-4

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