Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Recent debates about inequality have focused almost exclusively on the distribution of wealth and disparities in income, but little notice has been paid to the distribution of free time. Free time is commonly assumed to be a matter of personal preference, a good that one chooses to have more or less of. Even if there is unequal access to free time, the cause and solution are presumed to lie with the resources of income and wealth. In Free Time , Julie Rose argues that these views are fundamentally mistaken. First, Rose contends that free time is a resource, like money, that one needs in order to pursue chosen ends. Further, realizing a just distribution of income and wealth is not sufficient to ensure a fair distribution of free time. Because of this, anyone concerned with distributive justice must attend to the distribution of free time.

On the basis of widely held liberal principles, Rose explains why citizens are entitled to free time--time not committed to meeting life's necessities and instead available for chosen pursuits. The novel argument that the just society must guarantee all citizens their fair share of free time provides principled grounds to address critical policy choices, including work hours regulations, Sunday closing laws, public support for caregiving, and the pursuit of economic growth.

Delving into an original topic that touches everyone, Free Time demonstrates why all citizens have, in the words of early labor reformers, a right to "hours for what we will."

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Acknowledgments (p. ix)
• Chapter 1 Introduction (p. 1)
• Chapter 2 Leisure as a Specific Good (p. 15)
• Chapter 3 Free Time as a Resource (p. 39)
• Chapter 4 The Claim to Free Time (p. 66)
• Chapter 5 Shared Free Time (p. 93)
• Chapter 6 Free Time for Caregivers (p. 112)
• Chapter 7 Conclusion: Time for What We Will (p. 127)
• Bibliography (p. 147)
• Index (p. 163)

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

Rose argues a justice society requires, in addition to a fair distribution of wealth and income, access to one's fair share of free time--that is, time not spent meeting the necessities of life. She argues that ensuring a just distribution of income and wealth will not guarantee a just distribution of free time. She begins by discussing the reasons why access to free time has been inadequately addressed in liberal theories of justice, and goes on to distinguish between the specific good, leisure, and free time, a resource, and a necessary input for the pursuit of individual ends. She uses the effective freedoms principle to argue that all citizens are entitled to their fair share of free time, then extends these arguments to include that free time must be such that one enjoys freedom of association, and that care-giving should not count against one's measure of free time. In the final chapter, Rose discusses how to provide this free time, and what sort of policies would ensure individuals' fair access to free time to spend as they will. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty. --Margaret Morgan-Davie, Utica College

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Julie L. Rose is assistant professor of government at Dartmouth College.