Reimagining Leisure through Technology: Understanding Inequality, Belonging and the Future of Leisure

The infamous Leisure Society Thesis in the 1960s and 1970s envisaged the democratisation of leisure through technological advances, work efficiency, and reduction in working hours in the twentieth century. The ‘new leisure society’ is best summarised by technology, innovation, automation and more recently, generative AI. Such technological development continues to transform and impact the way we work, socialise, commute, communicate and spend our leisure time. It raises new questions about the demarcations between work and leisure, the access to and affordability of digital leisure, and the changing cultures of leisure.

To build upon these transitions, the panel invites contributions, both theoretical and empirical, that explore how technology is (re) configuring leisure in modern times across societies. How do digital technologies shape everyday leisure practices, including tourism, recreation and cultural traditions? Does technological change enhance leisure opportunities, and if so, for whom? How do we interpret notions of work in the synthesis of leisure and technology? How are experiences of leisure shaped by kinds of digital inequality? In what ways does it point to the tension between community, sociality, and belonging in the digital age? Additionally, the panel is particularly interested in discussing an ontology of leisure in the era of generative AI. We look forward to critical and insightful submissions on how individuals and communities experience, produce, and participate in leisure through smartphones and GenAI from across leisure studies, anthropology, sociology and allied disciplines.

Keywords: leisure, technology, AI, inequality