Annals of Leisure Research

This special issue proposal is dedicated to an in-depth exploration of the multifaceted potential of leisure events within the intricate tapestry of tensions, crises, and disputes. In a world grappling with crises including environmental degradation, public health emergencies, economic instability and threats to safety and peace, leisure events such as festivals and community celebrations represent dynamic platforms where societal elements coalesce, presenting opportunities for activism, restoration, polarisation, and reclamation. These events can transcend their conventional roles, becoming pivotal stages where memories, experiences, power dynamics, violence, symbolism, and social actions converge to engender social change within uncertainty.

Despite being traditionally perceived as havens for relaxation, enjoyment, and recreation—offering a temporary escape from the rigours of daily life and the tumult of global crises—leisure events are not isolated realms. Instead, they actively engage with and influence broader societal contexts, making them integral components of the societal fabric. As events evolve, they unfold as arenas for preservation and revitalization, but also as dynamic spaces for experimentation, contestation, and narrative confrontation within the intricate web of social, economic, and political relations.

At the heart of this exploration lies the unique characteristics inherent in events, positioning them as platforms temporarily removed in both time and space from their immediate surroundings, providing safe spaces for their participants, while also creating and shaping change. Our specific interest lies in discerning the relationship between leisurely event practices and active participation in addressing pressing concerns related to tensions, crises, and disputes. In essence, we aim to unravel how leisure events become pivotal platforms, not only for facilitating leisure but also for actively shaping and influencing the social contexts within.

We welcome submissions that focus on themes including, but not limited to:

• Events as spaces for performing resistance
• Events as safe spaces
• Events as spaces of recovery and wellbeing
• Events as experimental spaces for advancing sustainability
• Events as activism
• Events in relation to the climate crisis
• Events as spaces for shaping and performing identities
• Events and local responses to global crises
• Events as reflections of polarisation
• Events and power dynamics
• Events and Sustainable Development Goals
• The relationship between entertaining and serious event practices
• Events as serious leisure
• Event responses to tensions, crises, and disputes

This special issue will build upon earlier work published in leisure studies, taking a critical perspective on the relation between leisure events and public space (e.g. Duignan & McGillivray, 2019); Smith, 2018), human rights (e.g. Caudwell & McGee, 2018; Dowse, Powell & Weed,2018; Horne, 2018; Lamond, 2018), power structures (e.g. D’Hoore, Helsen & Scheerder, 2023; Sykes & Hamzeh, 2018; Ziakas, 2015), identities (e.g. Ronkainen, Shuman, Ding,You & Xu, 2018; Simons, 2020) marginalisation (e.g. Hassanli, Walters & Friedmann, 2020) and resistance (e.g. McGillivray, Lauermann & Turner, 2021).

• Submission of a 250-word abstract plus 100-word contributor bios to [email protected] and [email protected] no later than May 20th 2024.
• By the end of May 2024 selected contributors will be invited to submit a full article.
• Full article submission through the journal platform by 17th November 2024. (Article should be 8,000 words plus references.)
• Article publication online after acceptance in 2025, with entire Special Issue publication planned for the second half of 2025.

NB: Invitation to submit a full paper is not a confirmation of publication. All research articles will undergo rigorous double-anonymised peer review, based on initial editor screening and refereeing by at least two anonymous reviewers. 

Instructions for AuthorsSubmit an Article