Work, leisure and the social order: insights from the pandemic

Regardless of one’s perspective on the relationship between paid work, leisure, and social order, it is widely accepted that paid work is a central activity in light of which one may examine this linkage. There are rare cases in which the freedom associated with leisure choices explicitly challenges the existing social order and the values on which it is founded. Types of leisure that are not in harmony with the core values of society have been discussed under the conceptual category of deviant leisure. Inspired by previous work on leisure and the social order, as well as by some observations on Israeli society during the pandemic, this paper offers some reflections on the possible theoretical contribution of the concept of deviant leisure to the study of the interconnection between work, leisure, and the social order.