While abundant research has investigated time use, much less attention has been given to the cultural meanings attached to free time and what these may express with regard to conceptions of freedom and the self. In an attempt to fill this gap, Michelle Shir-Wise examines not only what people do in their free time, but also how they perceive, interpret and experience it, and in what way it relates to notions of happiness, freedom and the ideal self. Time, Freedom and the Self draws on contemporary theoretical debates concerning the relation between discourse, cultural repertoires, subjective meaning and agency, as well as literature around the sociology of leisure, to inform a unique interpretation of free time ("disciplined freedom"), developed in the light of questionnaires and in-depth interviews with middle-class, middle-aged participants in suburban Israel.
1. Introduction.- 2. Free Time, Culture and the Self.- 3. What is Topaz?.- 4. Conceptual Mapping: What is free time?.- 5. Free Time in Practice.- 6. The Productive Self.- 7. The Consuming Self.- 8. The Social Self.- 9. The Meaningful Self.- 10. Contradictory Free Time, Culture and Freedom.
Michelle Shir-Wise (PhD, Bar-Ilan University, Israel) is an independent researcher exploring time use, the self, popular culture, freedom, class, gender, youth and ageism, particularly as they relate to middle-class suburban culture in Israel.
