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The purpose of this paper was to explore the social capital generating potential of public leisure services for retirees as well as those approaching retirement age. The meanings of leisure, community, and friendship in the writings of Aristotle are explored as a philosophical base for reconsidering the relationship between leisure and social capital, and also for establishing a point of embarkation for the expansion of community leisure services beyond their currently limited focus. A description of the emerging profile of retirees, especially those preparing for retirement, is presented, as well as how they may seek and engage leisure activity consistent with the Aristotelian conceptualization of community. We offer a series of re-orientations for leisure service practitioners that may accommodate aging citizens and nurture their activities in informal ways that strengthen citizenship and democracy.
KEYWORDS: Leisure services, social capital, Aristotle, retirement, generativity.
Introduction
In this paper, we will explore the prospect that leisure produces social capital, particularly for retirees, and leisure services can be prominent in expanding such activity. After reviewing the philosophical and historical background for considering leisure in this manner, we will examine prospects for people who are retired to become civically engaged through socialcapital-generating activities, in particular political discourse, and also contemporary aspects of post-retirement living that, in varying degrees, reflect a semblance of classical leisure ideals. Finally, we will turn to the redesign and reorientation of some aspects of community leisure services that may enhance the likelihood of such activity.
To our knowledge, the field of leisure studies has not directed much attention to the historical trends affecting civic engagement of older age groups. Indeed, a case could be made that, to the extent that the leisure interests of older people are accommodated, the problem will be exacerbated if those interests have an individual focus. However, interests and activities more communal in nature are capable of producing social capital. The relevance of leisure itself as a context for the development of social capital has been addressed previously. In recent years, leisure studies scholarship has produced a small body of literature that directly explores the concept of social capital and its prospects for finding meaning and application in the field of leisure studies (DeGraaf & Jordan, 2003; Glover, 2004a; 2004b, Hemingway, 1999)....