The Rise of the Global Leisure/Cultural Industries
The rise of the global leisure/cultural industries
Introduction
The term ‘globalization’ is widely used to describe a variety of economic, cultural, social, and political changes that have changed the world over the past 50 years (Guttal, 2010). Globalization can be conceived as time-space compression, accelerating interconnectedness, and action at a distance (Kim, 2005). Globalization thus suggests the expanding scale, speeding up and deepening impact of flows and patterns of social interaction (Held and McGrew in Kim, 2005). The field of leisure studies has been urged, like all others, to engage with globalization. Globalization is the subject of analyses of specific forms of leisure, such as tourism (Wahab & Cooper, 2001), media (Kheeshadeh, 2012; Jan, 2009), and culture (Hochschild, 1998). Hesmondhalagh (2007) states that the internationalisation of the cultural industries over the last 30 years has been driven by the need to find new markets for labour and for their products. He concludes that culture, society and business are becoming more intertwined than ever, and therefore talks about the ‘cultural industries’. In addition, Mommaas (2008) talks about the coming into being of a highly dynamic ‘leisure industries’, where a much more horizontal and inclusive perspective dominates the leisure field. He states that content of the leisure market is produced by public and private organisations, which try to find their niche in an increasingly inter-related and thus competitive global/local leisure market. Globalization thus entailed the integration of the different leisure/cultural sectors into a global leisure/cultural industries. But what lies at the bottom of the rise of the global leisure/cultural industries? And what are the main organisational consequences? Therefore, the main question of this paper is: What underlies the rise of the global leisure/cultural industries, and what are the main organisational consequences of the rise of these global
Introduction
The term ‘globalization’ is widely used to describe a variety of economic, cultural, social, and political changes that have changed the world over the past 50 years (Guttal, 2010). Globalization can be conceived as time-space compression, accelerating interconnectedness, and action at a distance (Kim, 2005). Globalization thus suggests the expanding scale, speeding up and deepening impact of flows and patterns of social interaction (Held and McGrew in Kim, 2005). The field of leisure studies has been urged, like all others, to engage with globalization. Globalization is the subject of analyses of specific forms of leisure, such as tourism (Wahab & Cooper, 2001), media (Kheeshadeh, 2012; Jan, 2009), and culture (Hochschild, 1998). Hesmondhalagh (2007) states that the internationalisation of the cultural industries over the last 30 years has been driven by the need to find new markets for labour and for their products. He concludes that culture, society and business are becoming more intertwined than ever, and therefore talks about the ‘cultural industries’. In addition, Mommaas (2008) talks about the coming into being of a highly dynamic ‘leisure industries’, where a much more horizontal and inclusive perspective dominates the leisure field. He states that content of the leisure market is produced by public and private organisations, which try to find their niche in an increasingly inter-related and thus competitive global/local leisure market. Globalization thus entailed the integration of the different leisure/cultural sectors into a global leisure/cultural industries. But what lies at the bottom of the rise of the global leisure/cultural industries? And what are the main organisational consequences? Therefore, the main question of this paper is: What underlies the rise of the global leisure/cultural industries, and what are the main organisational consequences of the rise of these global