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The eventization of leisure and the strange death of alternative Leeds

2013; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 17; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/13604813.2013.765120

1470-3629

Karl Spracklen, Anna Richter, Beverley Spracklen,

Cultural Industries and Urban Development

Abstract The communicative potential of city spaces as leisure spaces is a central assumption of political activism and the creation of alternative, counter-cultural and subcultural scenes. However, such potential for city spaces is limited by the gentrification, privatization and eventization of city centres in the wake of wider societal and cultural struggles over leisure, work and identity formation. In this paper, we present research on alternative scenes in the city of Leeds to argue that the eventization of the city centre has led to a marginalization and of alternative scenes on the fringes of the city. Such marginalization has not caused the death of alternative Leeds or political activism associated with those scenes—but it has changed the leisure spaces (physical, political and social) in which alternative scenes contest the mainstream. Keywords: alternativeeventizationleisureoppositionalitypolitical activism Notes Other sociologists and philosophers started to argue that changes to working practices brought about by automation, computerization and globalization would result in more free time for individuals, and hence more need for leisure activities (Smigel 1963 Smigel, E. 1963. Work and Leisure: A Contemporary Social Problem, New Haven, CT: College and University Press. [Google Scholar]). However, it is not given that changes to Western society will lead to that utopian world of free, limitless leisure. Indeed, the current recession strongly echoes the connotation of leisure with worklessness and unemployment, which has been most prominent in protestant Calvinism (Weber [1905] 1992 Weber, M. (1905) 1992. Die protestantische Ethik und der Geist des Kapitalismus, London: Allen and Unwin. [Google Scholar]) where idleness was considered deplorable. A second paper in preparation by the authors looks at the relationship between eventization and cultural policy and the latter's salience in promoting and abetting the process of eventization. The 12 respondents for the project were aged 30 or over so that they could reflect on changes they had experienced and changes they believed to have happened even where they may not have experienced them directly. We used long, semi-structured interviews to allow the respondents to take ownership of what they wanted to say, within the constraints of our desire to hear their histories and opinions. All interviews were recorded and analysed using our knowledge of the literature to create relevant codes. This coding led to the construction of the analysis section of this paper. The Sisters of Mercy are one of the most influential goth bands from the 1980s, though their singer Andrew Eldritch has since distanced himself from the goth scene. One prominent punk/hardcore venue on the edge of town, Joseph's Well, was closed down after our interviews took place, with a view to re-opening as a 'town' destination. Here, we refer to Dangerfield's (1936) Dangerfield, G. 1936. The Strange Death of Liberal England, London: Constable. [Google Scholar] book The Strange Death of Liberal England. While he was pleased to see the decline of the Liberal Party in England during the interwar years, with its connections to the Establishment and the political elites of the country, we are more perturbed at the decline of alternative Leeds and its radical politics. American science-fiction writer Harry Harrison wrote a series of stories about the criminal of the future, whom he called 'The Stainless Steel Rat'. The name was struck when the criminal realized he was like a rat on the margins of society—in older times, when things were made of wood, there were millions of rats; in the modern (future) universe built of stainless steel, only few of the toughest rats could survive, those who survived by their own wits. Speaking to our die-hard punks made us think of them in these terms. On a day of industrial action, two of the authors who were on strike in Leeds joined the march through to the city centre. Thousands of union members and left-wing activists gathered on streets and squares where such politicized presence would normally have been unwelcome and we saw two of the respondents for this research alongside us. Additional informationNotes on contributorsKarl SpracklenKarl Spracklen is Professor of Leisure Studies at Leeds Metropolitan University.Anna RichterAnna Richter is a research fellow at the Institute for Regional Development and Structural Planning at Erkner, Germany and Correspondence Editor of City. Email: richtera@irs-net.deBeverley SpracklenBeverley Spracklen is an independent researcher based in Leeds. Email: verbeia@live.co.uk