Parkour, Leisure and Neoliberal Cityscapes: a two-book review.

Abstract

In the last decade or so the practice of parkour has been the focus of an increasing amount of interdisciplinary interest, especially amongst scholars addressing the global emergence and diffusion of lifestyle sports, and exploring the relationship between leisure practices and urban spaces. The two recent monographs addressed in this review meaningfully reflect this growing interest, and provide some relevant perspectives on current debates on parkour and leisure studies more in general. Furthermore, the review of these books also provides the opportunity to highlight current gaps and future developments in parkour literature, and the importance to address these for scholars addressing the relationship between leisure, forms of urban sociality and governance, and the political, economic and cultural realities of late-capitalism.