The parks are being loved to death and other frauds and deceits in recreation management

Many common concepts in recreation and leisure research originate from the "interests" of four groups: users, legislators, managing agencies, and researchers. These interests, and their tics to social class, make frequently discussed concepts like overuse, business-like management for public agencies, benefits/values, and sustainability ontologically suspect. A functionalist approach is advocated as an alternative. Researchers need to be aware of the "political" context of research concepts to avoid pitfalls in their application.