This book analyses a unique leisure world that has been built around a
newly emerging phenomenon known as urban exploration; the art of
exploring human-made environments which are generally abandoned or
hidden from sight of the public eye. Drawing on Michel Foucault's
concept of heterotopia, Bingham provides a detailed and critical
investigation of urban exploration as a form of leisure that is about
the coming together of drifting performers who, in their celebration of
'rebellion' and 'deviance', are determined to find a sense of meaning
and belonging.
The research considers the influence of consumer capitalism on urban
explorers, and the wider social, economic and political context that
shapes ideas of belonging and identity in the twenty-first century. By
doing this, the book analyses urban exploration as an activity that has
emerged in a time when human ideas about culture, individuality and
community have transformed, and 'solid' modernity is gradually
disintegrating around us.
This multi and interdisciplinary work will appeal to people with an
interest in 'abnormal' or 'deviant' leisure, as well as academics from
sociology, anthropology, social geography, leisure studies, cultural
studies, sport and recreation and tourism.