CFP: Leisure and North-South Relations

RECALL AND NEW DEADLINE
Leisure & Society


LEISURE AND NORTH-SOUTH RELATIONS
Vol. 32, No. 1, Spring 2009
Guest editors:
Patrick Bouchet and Jean Harvey


Today, no one can deny the transnational social, political and economic importance of leisure. We are looking at major concerns firmly anchored in the lifestyles of different societies, that impact developmental policies to multiple degrees and which cannot be reduced simply to issues of tourism. Nevertheless, today’s leisure activities do not all have the same origins, the same importance, the same derivatives, but vary by continent, country, region… These findings, perhaps trivial in themselves, obscure the fact that there is a lack of scientific work permitting a comparison of the characteristics and structural modes of leisure activities between different regions of the world, and more especially between those in the "South" (more specifically on the African and South-American land masses) and the countries of the "North" (which include the North-American, European and Asian continental areas).

At a time when globalization is in danger of undermining the equilibrium of the economic and professional domains, it would seem legitimate to examine the leisure activities of populations worldwide and to compare both the way they are organized and the place they occupy in the societies concerned. Such an enquiry is most relevant at an epoch where we are witnessing a steady strengthening of the idea of leisure as a developmental tool where the impact of tourism is not the only concern. What is even more interesting is that this avenue of research fits into an overall dynamic framework within which international governmental and non-governmental organizations are multiplying policy actions, and where new social movements are arguing for models other than those of current neoliberal globalization. With this in mind we might ask the following questions: Is there a tendency in Northern and Southern States to bring into alignment their leisure activities, as was somewhat the case during the colonial period? Do they preserve these historical and/or sociocultural characteristics, or do they differentiate themselves, on the basis of their territorial, ethnic, religious or other orientations? What are the world trends and local reactions that emerge from active and passive leisure activities, viewed from the perspective of North-South relationships?

This is the overall thrust of our proposal for a thematic edition of this review, which is calling for a range of papers, that may include comparisons of a specific type of leisure activity amongst States or regions with very different developmental scenarios; of specific populations in certain countries, based on their different social, territorial, ethnic, community, or religious characteristics; or of world developmental initiatives in the field of leisure activities.

Positioning of this proposal

The thrust of this thematic number is therefore the bringing together of international level research work in order to draw up an initial balance sheet of current thinking on this issue, an issue that intimately concerns a number of projects sponsored by the Agence universitaire de la Francophonie or by countries referred to as “developed.” We also wish this number to provide an opportunity to highlight the various issues, both current and future, related to active and passive leisure activities, for Northern and for Southern nations. Without pretending to an all-inclusive portrait, we would welcome different points of view, and complementary or interdependent themes that help initiate an exchange of ideas.



Recommendations to contributors

Texts should reach the guest editors by email before January 29, 2009, and should include:

1) Typescripts in .rtf or .doc format;

2) A title page with the title of the paper and the “Author’s Notes”: name(s) of contributor(s) and institutional affiliation for each one; acknowledgements (expression of thanks, sources of financing); mailing addresses. The first page of the typescript must not include the name(s) or coordinates of the contributor(s);

3) An abstract: one paragraph of no more than 150 words.

Tables, figures and notes must be correctly inserted within the text. Pictures and photos require original resolution of no less than 130 ppi.


Texts should not be longer than 60,000 characters (including spaces).

Please use APA stylebook (American Psychological Association) for bibliographical references, tables, figures, etc.



Send to:

Mr. Patrick Bouchet
Laboratoire Socio-psychologie et Management du sport
Faculté des Sciences du Sport
Université de Bourgogne
Campus Universitaire - BP 27877
21 078 Dijon Cedex
France
e-mail: patrick.bouchet@u-bourgogne.fr


Mr. Jean Harvey, Director
Research Centre for Sport in Canadian Society
School of Human Kinetics
University of Ottawa
125 University
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
K1N 6N5
e-mail: jharvey@uottawa.ca