Introduction

This introductory chapter first considers the general issue of the labelling of societies, eras or civilisations, beginning with the hunter-gatherer/agrarian/industrial typology. Such classification systems can be based on economic, power-related, cultural or time-use criteria. The idea of a ‘leisure society’ uses the last of these. The bulk of the chapter is devoted to summaries of the thoughts of 11 proponents of the leisure society idea, or at least of reduced working hours. This is followed by a brief discussion of the idea of a ‘leisure society within society’. Finally an overview of types of leisure society is offered, covering: the evolving leisure society; the leisure society as political project; the ‘leisure society is now’ view; the end-of-work dystopia; and reduced work scenarios.