Outdoor leisure and the sustainability agenda: critical pedagogy on neo-liberalism and the employment obsession in higuer education

• Autores: Kim Polistina
• Localización: Tourism recreation research, ISSN 0250-8281, Vol. 32, Nº. 2, 2007, págs. 57-66
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • The economic rationalist values of neo-liberalism are the foundation of our Western social systems and, as authors have noted, the advocates of this ideology believe it to be the panacea for all of our social ills and problems. The success of this ideology, however, is yet to be supported and there is a growing awareness of the myth of neo-liberal capitalist ideals of sustained economic growth. This paper will argue that higher education is a core avenue for critical reflection of neo-liberalism and education for social change towards holistic sustainability and that the current attempts to impose neoliberalist values through solely vocationall} aimed degrees undermines and oppresses this opportunity. The focus of this discussion will look at how outdoor leisure, through outdoor learning degree courses in higher education, may provide a forum for raising awareness and understanding of knowledges on alternative ideologies to neoliberalism, particularly those with more pro-environmental foundations. In doing so, it is posited that outdoor leisure can be utilized as the mechanism for providing practical opportunities for critical reflection on neoliberalism, and for education on holistically sustainable social and cultural systems in higher education curricula