About the Book

In the globalisation process cultures are influenced by one another and become more alike through trade, immigration, and exchange of information and ideas. However, in recent times the degree and intensity of the connections among different cultures and different world regions have accelerated dramatically owing to advances in science and technology. Globalisation has truly become an agent of social change. Post industrial revolution, the new world of entertainment and leisure activities have become an important subject of research in sociology. This festschrift, in honour of Dr. Ishwar P. Modi, an eminent sociologist and the past President of the Indian Sociological Society, brings together articles on various aspects of leisure in different societies. Both Indian and foreign scholars have contributed papers to this volume which would impress its readers with the richness of data on leisure and a variety of novel approaches to its study in cross-cultural contexts. Three ideas, however, are prominently noticeable in this book. First, the distinction of ‘work’ and ‘leisure’ is of Western origin. Its intellectual imposition to understand non-Western systems is fraught with risk, as concepts of ‘work’ and ‘leisure’ vary from one situation to another. Second, since great variation exists with respect to the activities of leisure, it is important that they should be documented as ‘thickly’ as possible. And finally, globalization has contributed a great deal in deepening the distinction between ‘work’ and ‘leisure’, and defining the contours of leisurous activities. Providing a number of empirical and historical studies of leisure from different cultures, this volume will be of immense value to the students of social sciences and humanities. Contributors Aretha Oluwakemi Asakitikpi Habil Zsuzsanna Benkõ Bhagwan S. Bisht Michael Burawoy Eduardo Burgos-Suazo Sukant K. Chaudhury Angellyn Santon Gonzalez Vishesh Kumar Gupta Ma Huidi Rashmi Jain Neha Kala Habibul Haque Khondker Francis Lobo Fabio Massimo Lo Verde Shalini Modi B.K. Nagla Madhu Nagla Scott North Laura L. Ortiz-Negron Ken Roberts Anayra O. Santory Jorge K.L. Sharma S.L. Sharma Yogendra Singh Vinay Kumar Srivastava Robert A. Stebbins Klára Tarkó Lech W. Zacher

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Contents

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About the Author / Editor

B.K. Nagla is former Professor of Sociology, M.D. University, Rohtak. Post retirement, he also worked as consultant at Kota Open University and as Professor on Babu Jagjivan Ram Chair at Banaras Hindu University. Vinay Kumar Srivastava is Professor, Department of Anthropology, Delhi University, New Delhi.

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