Love in the Time of STS

I seek to read Gary Werskey’s essay “The Marxist Critique of Capitalist Science: A History in Three Movements,” (2007) as a love story, and one that can be paralleled by another such love story in Science and Technology Studies. By reading Werskey’s narrative of Bob Young beside a piece written by Dorothy Smith (1990) on Sally Hacker, I want to draw attention to what is both jarring and gripping about such deeply personal projects. I seek to locate both of these essays as projects in memory, in what it means to try to hold onto a story – to preserve it – and also to (re-)unleash it into the world, hoping that these authors’ and mentors’ works will be remembered, rediscover, reproductive

Identity Politics Redux

Pornography reappropriated by feminist and queer pornographers is being reimagined as a site of activist productions, be it through the reshaping of desire or engaging with wider discussions of representational politics. Here, I take up Shine Louise Houston’s feature length film, The Wild Search, as a unique case study for addressing the relationship between debates of identity politics and queer activist practice

Leisure Studies and Spirituality: A Christian Critique

Conceptual discussions of leisure have often had spiritual overtones or linked leisure with spirituality. The links between the two concepts are becoming widely recognized and discussed in a wide range of leisure studies areas: therapeutic recreation, camping, recreational land management, outdoor recreation, tourism, and community recreation. Increasingly empirical research is being conducted on this relationship. Christians respond in a variety of ways to the increased social scientific interest in the relationship between leisure and spirituality: for some Christian spirituality is the only true spirituality; some compartmentalize or dichotomize spirituality; some believe non-Christians experience spirituality; some believe that spirituality reaches its fullest potential in relationship with God; and some see spirituality as a complex process. Positively, the renewed interest in spirituality may be seen as recognition of spiritual need and an opportunity for introducing Christian spirituality and the Christian spiritual tradition of leisure. However there are also areas of concern. First, there is a need to expand the “interiority” of contemporary discussions of leisure and spirituality and to emphasize transcendence. Second, contemporary discussions of leisure and spirituality often focus on the inner self with little discussion of relationships with others or of community. Third, there is a need to go beyond spiritual experience to spiritual well-being. Fourth, as the majority of theoretical reflection and empirical investigation on leisure and spirituality has focused on nature-based recreation and spirituality, more emphasis needs to be placed on all forms of leisure in all settings. Fifth, as the vast majority of studies on leisure and spirituality have been small scale qualitative studies, the adoption of various methods of studying and understanding the relationship between leisure and spirituality needs to be encouraged. Sixth, there is a need within the leisure studies field to make connections with the 20 centuries of Christian spirituality

Spiritual and Religious Outcomes of Leisure Travel and Tourism: A Framework for Synthesizing Empirical Research

In recent decades there has been a dramatic increase in empirical research on the spiritual outcomes of leisure travel and tourism, however there are few frameworks or models that synthesize this empirical research. In this paper I will provide a preliminary framework to organize empirical research that has examined the spiritual outcomes of leisure travel and tourism. This framework will be based on a slight modification of an existing framework of outdoor activities and spirituality that includes antecedent conditions, setting, and recreation components, which together lead to short and long-term spiritual outcomes (Heintzman, 2016a). In the tourism context, the recreation component will be renamed the tourism component. Spiritual and religious outcomes include spiritual/religious experience, spiritual well-being, and leisure-spiritual coping. A preliminary but not exhaustive review of empirical studies on the religious and spiritual dimensions of leisure travel reveals that most of the elements of this framework are present

Gatineau Park: Public Participation and Changing Park Purposes in the Windland-Urban Interface

Abstract This study examines the planning process for Gatineau Park’s 2005 master plan, specifically the issues of public participation and changing park purposes as they relate to recreation in the wildland-urban interface. Although the plan acknowledges that Gatineau Park, unlike other natural parks in eastern Canada, protrudes into a large urban area, the planning process did not involve a systematic survey of the views of current and potential park visitors as well as the diverse population in the region. The plan, by stating that the park will be “managed primarily for conservation then for recreational use” (National Capital Commission 2005b, p. 19), created a dichotomy that does not reflect an increasing recognition of the complementary nature of park visitation and ecological integrity

Christian Reflections on the Relationship of Leisure and Work

A Christian understanding of leisure cannot be developed in isolation from the other dimensions of life. In the creation account of Genesis we learn that both rest and work are basic to the created nature of humanity. The purpose of this paper is to explore a Christian understanding of the relationship between leisure and work. The paper begins with a brief review of biblical teaching on work and leisure. This teaching is then applied to a critique of five more recent perceptions of the relationship of leisure and work: work-oriented unilateral; leisure-oriented unilateral; split; integrated; and identity. It is argued that the identity approach, which is consistent with a holistic understanding of leisure, is most congruent with a biblical understanding of leisure and work. Our work is to flow from a quality of life, a spiritual attitude characterized by rest in God. In addition, some rhythm or cycle of work and leisure (in a quantitative sense) is necessary for well-being and wholeness. Thus in addition to leisure as a spiritual attitude, certain times and activities—ranging from silent contemplation to an active celebration and rejoicing in the gifts of creation—are necessary when an intensification of leisure is experienced

Leisure Studies and Christian Scholarship: Two Solitudes?

This paper examines the interrelationships between scholarly Christian writings on leisure and leisure studies literature. As an academic field of study leisure studies is a fairly recent development, however throughout Christian history leisure has been considered by Christians such as Augustine, Aquinas, Luther and Calvin. A number of observations can be made from a review of these two bodies of literature. First, although numerous books have been written in recent decades by Christian scholars on the subject of leisure, very few of these scholars have been leisure studies scholars, and in most cases, these Christian writings have not made reference to some concepts prevalent in leisure studies literature (e.g., leisure as a state of mind, feminist perspectives, serious leisure). Second, with a few exceptions, leisure studies literature rarely references these Christian writings on leisure. Third, leisure studies literature sometimes takes biblical verses out of context and portrays the leisure attitudes and behaviours of some Christian groups such as the Puritans in an overly negative manner. Fourth, the recent interest within the leisure studies field of the relationship between leisure and spirituality offers the possibility of some convergence between the two bodies of literature, although the leisure studies literature tends to favour a more humanistic view of spirituality. In particular, qualitative research studies on leisure and spirituality give a voice to Christian perspectives as expressed through the words of Christian participants

Quebec-US Relations Under the Parti Quebecois

Quebec-U.S. interactions frm 1976 to 1980 are analysed in relation to American apprehension over the election of the Parti Quebecois and the P.Q. government’s ability to accommodate the American economic community.Analysis of this interaction is conducted in terms of the risks to corporate operations posed by P.Q. policies and the effect of P.Q. communications on corporate perceptions of this risk. A formal bargaining model—developed using the concept from game theory of “critical risk”—forms the theoretical basis for explaining changes in the American response. Each province’s economic transactions with the U.S. are described along with provincial influences on Canadian foreign policy. Quebec-U.S. interactions are viewed as a case study of the sub-national perspective in international relations