Engaging struggle: the deconstruction of the academy in leisure studies

Abstract

For some time, we, the guest editors of this special issue (Simon Barrick, Dan Henhawk and Felice Yuen), along with many other leisure scholars have been engaged in discussions about struggle; struggles with research, struggles with one’s identity and of finding one’s place in academia, and struggles with the academy and the ways it is implicated in upholding a system of colonialism. As described by Sandy Grande (2004), colonialism is ‘a multidimensional force underwritten by Western Christianity, defined by white supremacy, and fueled by global capitalism’ (p. 19). The impetus to push forward this special issue of Leisure/Loisir stemmed from events surrounding the 16th Canadian Congress on Leisure Research (CCLR 16) held in May 2021. CCLR 16 was postponed from an in-person gathering to be held in Edmonton, Alberta, in May 2020, to a virtual gathering the following year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Given the uncertain nature of global events during that time, the Canadian Association for Leisure Studies board of directors aligned CCLR 16 with the Federation for Humanities and Social Sciences’ Congress 2021 – an annual opportunity for Canadian Humanities and Social Sciences scholarly associations to gather individually and collectively each spring. However, amid widespread criticism of the Federation’s (in)action toward systemic discrimination and anti-Black racism – led by organizations such as the Black Canadian Studies Association (2021)– the CCLR 16 organizing committee opted to leave the Federation, returning CCLR 16 to an independent conference.