Fabio Massimo Lo Verde

In this paper, we analyze consumption patterns of leisure time among young people belonging to the so-called “second generation” of immigrants in Italy. Leisure time consumption describes how young immigrants use cultural products and services...

F.M. Lo Verde, Leisure time and the construction of social capital: a review The production of social capital in a specific area of everyday life such as leisure time and the different socio-cultural contexts it is experienced in is a very interesting research issue, especially in the light of certain specific meanings of the notion of social capital, such as Bourdieu’s or, more recently, Putnam’s. Nonetheless, this research issue is scarcely taken into consideration in Italy. Albeit inexaustively, this paper intends to introduce this issue starting from a brief review on the generation of social capital in youth’s leisure time contexts. In the first paragraph I problematize the notion of social capital as referred to leisure time “contexts” as well as analyze either the social capital literature dealing with the modes and experiences of leisure time, or the leisure time literature focusing on the construction of social capital in leisure time contexts. In the second paragraph I discuss some studies regarding the ways in which a particular age range – youth – produces social capital in leisure time contexts. In the third paragraph I focus on some studies regarding the issue of youth’s leisure time as a potential “antisocial” time. In the fourth paragraph I introduce the discussion about the little importance given to public leisure in the service provision for youth’s leisure time and the consequences determined by that in terms of social capital «erosion». The conclusion offers three metaphors for understanding the trends of leisure time and sociability. Key words: leisure studies; leisure time, Social capital

In most of Western countries, leisure studies have a rather consolidated tradition. Although still considered somehow marginal, this area of study has collected a number of researches and theoretical reflections that are both quantitatively and qualitatively significant. In Italy instead, even if some studies have been conducted, especially in the last thirty years, research appears quite fragmentary. This study intends to focus either on the relevance of leisure time as an object of study for sociologists or on the results leisure studies have attained so far. In particular, looking at the current literature, I shall focus on the different meanings of leisure as well as on the sociological aspects of this important «finite province of meaning». The study ends with a reflection on the characteristics of leisure in contemporary society.