ABSTRACT
The serious leisure perspective (SLP), which is the organizing principle for this book, can be described, in simplest terms, as the theoretic framework that synthesizes three main forms of leisure, showing, at once, their distinctive features, similarities and interrelationships (Stebbins, 2007a). Additionally, the SLP considers how the three forms – serious pursuits (serious leisure/devotee work), casual leisure and project-based leisure – are shaped by various psychological, social, cultural and historical conditions. Each form serves as a conceptual umbrella for a range of types of related activities. That the SLP takes its name from serious leisure should, in no way, suggest that it be regarded, in some abstract sense, as more important or superior than the other two. Rather the SLP is so titled simply because it got its start in the study of serious leisure; such leisure is, strictly from the standpoint of intellectual invention, the godfather of the other two. Furthermore, serious leisure has become the bench mark from which analyses of casual and project-based leisure have often been undertaken. So naming the SLP after the first facilitates intellectual recognition; it keeps the idea in familiar territory for all concerned.
