“Leisure Time Is Always Occupied by Work, Only Not for Someone Else, but for Oneself”: The Allotment Garden as an Identity Project of Warsaw’s Middle Class

Abstract

This article aims to answer the question of whether leisure time is influenced by the “long arm of work” or functions as a more independent sphere in the lives of allotment holders at the ROD Waszyngton allotment garden in Warsaw. The author investigates the ideas of leisure and self-management that appear in the interviewees’ statements. What role does cultivating an allotment garden play in the identity projects of allotment holders? The theoretical perspective of the article derives from leisure and environmental studies, while the empirical material was collected during individual in-depth interviews and field observations. The author analyses the data through the lens of two categories: romantic visions of socio-nature among the middle class, and the identity dimensions of gardening. She argues that the leisure time of allotment holders is based on a complex ethos that includes the idea of industriousness as being praiseworthy on the one hand, and the need for creative self-expression on the other. Gardening reflects the allotment holders’ vision of the good life.