Work-reduced futures for the twenty-first century

In this chapter we consider current calls for reduced working hours. These are not calls for a leisure society, but clearly have potential implications for leisure. Just three contributions emanate from leisure studies scholars, the rest being from feminists, economists, environmentalists and critical sociologists. Before considering these, however, aspects of the economic conditions in the first two decades of the twenty-first century are examined, noting in particular the continuing impact of the financial crisis of 2008.