Occupational Devotion: Finding Satisfaction and Fulfillment at Work

(Paperback)

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The idea of occupational devotion, or devotee work, was conceptualized and incorporated in the serious leisure perspective as one of the two serious pursuits. The other pursuit is serious leisure itself, with both forms being anchored in activities that are immensely appealing and fulfilling. Despite such desirable qualities the serious pursuits constitute a minority of all work and leisure, these two domains being dominated by disagreeable work and hedonic casual leisure activities.

The devotee occupations serve as full-time or part-time livelihoods for people fortunate enough to have found them. Such work has so far been observed to exist in four sectors of the economy: the liberal professions, consulting occupations, craft-like trades, and creativity-based small businesses. In ways set out in this book, devotee work roots in serious leisure, even while many participants in the latter have no desire to pursue the former.

Reviews

For almost half a century, Professor Robert Stebbins has led the way in terms of helping other people defi ne and determine the boundaries of their systematic pursuit of leisure. Having found ourselves in the midst of a life-changing global pandemic, this insightful and thought-provoking addition to the existing knowledge base could not have come at a more opportune moment in time. This represents a must-read for those who have found themselves questioning their why. Dr. Richard Keith Wright, School of Sport and Recreation, Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand

This book will make a worthwhile contribution to the discipline of leisure studies, where the literature on this specifi c topic of occupational devotion remains relatively less developed. In my estimation, this book is poised to provide novel insights into the nature of occupational devotion, which advances serious leisure theory. Dr. Rodney Lim Thiam Hock, Lecturer in Marketing and E-Commerce, Swinburne University of Technology, Australia

Author Bio

Robert Stebbins is Emeritus Professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Calgary.