Skip to main content

What Is Topaz?

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Time, Freedom and the Self

Part of the book series: Leisure Studies in a Global Era ((LSGE))

  • 290 Accesses

Abstract

This chapter outlines the central characteristics of the town Topaz, its free time activities and dominant narratives, as these emerged in interviews with key local figures and in select local texts. The town is presented in those interviews as an idyllic town, which is communal, family-oriented and upper-middle class. The local texts revealed a wide range of free time options available in the town, as well as shedding light on cultural scripts to which residents of the town are exposed. This chapter gives the reader a sense of the town and the lifestyle of its residents.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). 2018. List of Localities, in Alphabetical Order. Israel Central Bureau of Statistics. http://www.cbs.gov.il/ishuvim/reshimalefishem.pdf. Accessed Aug 2018.

  • Forbes Israel. 2018. The Ten Municipalities with the Highest Average Income in Israel [Hebrew]. http://www.forbes.co.il/rating/list.aspx?en6v0tVq=II. Accessed Aug 2018.

  • Geertz, Clifford. [1983] 2000. Local Knowledge: Further Essays in Interpretive Anthropology. New York: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gershuny, Jonathan. 2005. Busyness as the Badge of Honor for the New Superordinate Working Class. Social Research 72 (2): 287–314.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goffman, Erving. 1976. Gender Advertisements. London: Macmillan.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Guttman Center for Surveys. 2012. A Portrait of Israeli Jews: Beliefs Observances, and Values of Israeli Jews 2009. Jerusalem: Israel Democracy Institute and Avi Chai–Israel. https://en.idi.org.il/media/1351622/GuttmanAviChaiReport2012_EngFinal.pdf. Accessed Nov 2015.

  • Illouz, Eva. 1991. Reason within Passion: Love in Women’s Magazines. Critical Studies in Media Communication 8 (3): 231–248.

    Google Scholar 

  • Illouz, Eva. 2003. Oprah Winfrey and the Glamour of Misery. New York: Columbia University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Katz, Elihu, Hadassah Haas, Shosh Weitz, Hanna Adoni, Michael Gurevitz, and Miriam Shif. 2000. The Leisure Culture in Israel: Changes in Cultural Behavioral Patterns 1970–1990. Tel Aviv, Open University [Hebrew].

    Google Scholar 

  • Lareau, Annette. 2002. Invisible Inequality: Social Class and Childrearing in Black Families and White Families. American Sociological Review 67 (5): 747–776.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McGee, Micki. 2005. Self Help, Inc.: Makeover Culture in American Life. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Offer, Shira, and Barbara Schneider. 2011. Revisiting the Gender Gap in Time-Use Patterns: Multitasking and Well-Being among Mothers and Fathers in Dual-Earner Families. American Sociological Review 76 (6): 809–833.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robinson, John P., and Geoffrey Godbey. 1997. Time for Life: The Surprising Ways Americans Use Their Time. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schor, Juliet. 1993. The Overworked American‬: The Unexpected Decline of Leisure. New York: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schor, Juliet. 1998. The Overspent American‬: Upscaling, Downshifting, and the New Consumer‬. New York: Harper Perennial.

    Google Scholar 

  • Veblen, Thorstein. [1899] 2007. The Theory of the Leisure Class. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Shir-Wise, M. (2019). What Is Topaz?. In: Time, Freedom and the Self. Leisure Studies in a Global Era. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-13841-7_3

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-13841-7_3

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-13840-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-13841-7

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics