Work and Leisure

62 Chris Rojekself-engulfment and isolation. Under invasive leisure patterns, the individual’spublic face may outwardly represent sociability and harmony.Inwardly however, the veridical self is beset by waves of inauthenticity andworthlessness. Alcohol and drugs may deaden these oppressive feelings.However, in the long run, they contribute to a general retreat from engagementwith others into a private world of leisure. In extreme cases, the sense ofinvalidity and inauthenticity in the veridical self may result in a desire tonegate feelings of worthlessness and oppression by burying the self from thesight of others either through psychological breakdown or suicide (see Rojek2000: 178–80).Alienation and the development of mephiticleisure symptomsTime-famine brings with it a permanent sense of being besieged and overworked.Unemployment produces feelings of rejection, mourning at the lossof status, and anger. In both cases, feelings of invalidation may be transferredfrom the veridical self to others who are perceived as either the causes oftime-famine and unemployment, or stereotyped as incapable of empathisingwith the existential problems of time famine and unemployment.Mephitic leisure refers to the transformation of attachments from solidarityto antagonism or revenge. Individuals are estranged from the communityand society: they feel that their pain and anxiety is abstracted from the commons,so that the commons themselves become a source of invalidation.Mephitic leisure patterns tend to be dominated by two sets of morbid symptoms.First, the veridical self is identified as being more real, and thereforemore significant, than other members of society. As such, abusive or violentbehaviour towards others in leisure is legitimated by an appeal to the individual’ssuperior or finer feelings in relation to other members of society.Second, the veridical self transfers its own feelings of invalidation upon theabstracted mass. In practice the two sets of symptoms are often related. Inboth cases individuals are deprived of genuine feelings and become objectifiedas resources for self-gratification through the off-loading of frustrationand aggression (Rojek 2000: 180–6). Mephitic leisure is associated with violentand antisocial conduct and in extreme cases, may be a causal factor inhomicide (Leyton 1986).Post-work and civil labourAronowitz and Cutler (1998) hold that postmodern conditions produce apost-work society. It might be objected that this is an extravagant proposition,since paid employment under postmodern conditions is clearly stillwidely sought and highly valued. In addition, there are some groundsfor speculating that time-harassment is a new source of status, as workers