In this paper, a version of which was written in the early 1990s, I linked a discussion of the embodied emotions, leisure and society with a consideration of the issue of pleasure. In doing so I provided a critical evaluation of how leisure, pleasure and the emotions are intertwined in late modern/postmodern societies. At the time of writing the study of the interconnections between the emotions, leisure and society has been relatively neglected. When the issue of leisure and the emotions was studied it tended to be examined from either a psychological perspective or by sociologists located within so-called ‘agency’ or ‘interpretative’ theories. In contrast, I argued that it was necessary to spell out the nature of the interdependencies between emotions, leisure and society. This approach seeks to grasp the interplay between the psychological makeup of people, historical processes and social structures. An attempt was made to critically review and evaluate the contribution made by a range of socio-cultural perspectives and to provide a synthesis which would more adequate explain the meaning and significance of sport and embodied emotions.
