Philosophical thought can be applied to any subject, so what would be a philosophy of planned events? It would surely consider such questions as:
● Are all planned events fundamentally good?
● Under what conditions is public support justified?
● Must all events be environmentally sustainable in every possible way?
● What obligations to society and the environment do event professionals hold? (Con- sider morality and ethics.)
● What is the value of art events? What events are in bad taste? How should we judge beauty? (This is aesthetics.)
● What can we learn about the event experience and the multiple meanings attached to events? (Such as through hermeneutic phenomenology.)
Religious Studies
The study of ‘religion’ includes attention to its origins and evolution, comparison and analysis of belief systems, and evaluation of impacts on society. The rites, rituals and celebrations of various religions are scrutinized, including the use of anthropological methods, and this has direct relevance in Event Studies (Figure 4.2).
‘Theologians’ hold religious belief systems and apply their specific beliefs and related values to interpreting or criticizing all aspects of human society. Because so many events are religious in origin or theme, or contain programmic elements that hold
religious meaning (even something as common as an opening prayer or blessing), theology has a contribution to event studies. In some societies it is more a matter of spirituality or even mysticism that one finds reflected in modern events.
Festivals in many cultures are closely associated with religion. In Japan, annual mat- suri are held at or in conjunction with Shinto shrines. Here is a description taken from the website: www.us.emb-japan.go.jp/jicc/spotfestivals.htm:
Japanese festivals, holidays, and other ceremonial occasions fall into two main categories: matsuri (festivals) and nenchu gyoji (annual events). Matsuri are essentially native Japanese festivals of Shinto origin, held annually on fixed days. . . . Japanese matsuri are chiefly of sacred origin, related (at least originally) to the cul- tivation of rice and the spiritual well-being of local communities . . . A matsuri is basically a symbolic act whereby participants enter a state of active communication with the gods. It is accompanied by communion among the participants in the form of feast and festival . . . This comprises purificatory rites, offerings and communal banquets between gods and humans. This first aspect may be termed a religious rite. The second aspect of matsuri is communion among people. Many Japanese festivals feature a parade of Mikoshi (portable shrines) and contests or games that give opportunities for community members to play together and match skills. The regulations of everyday life are relaxed and the atmosphere is one of spiritual renewal. This part of the matsuri may be called a festival, and whereas the first aspect is carried out with strict formalities, the latter attains vitality through the releasing of such restrictions.
Matsuri in modern Japan often include large-scale, public celebrations like carnival, complete with masks, parades with traditional, iconic floats, sports and (to a Western eye) outrageously dangerous behaviour such as playing with fire. Search the web for matsuri photos and you will see many examples.
Religious Nature and Antecedents Planning Outcomes Processes and studies meanings: to attending and and the patterns
the event events producing impacted
experience events
• The study of • Sacred • Religious • Ritual and • Spiritual • Religious
religions, experiences motivations symbolism effects trends and emphasizing (religious rites, for attending incorporated on the forces (e.g.,
human society symbols and or rejecting into event individual the and behaviour celebrations) events programming • Impacts on influence
• Religious life for believers • Quest for religion of religious and experience • Pilgrimage spiritual • Impacts on lobbies)
meaning as individual
a motivator belief
for belonging systems or
to religious faith
groups
Figure 4.2 Religious studies.
To illustrate a religious studies theme within Event Studies, the following note on a book by S.B. Singh is useful.
Research Note
Singh, S. B. (1989). Fairs and Festivals in Rural India: A Geopolitical Study of Belief Systems. Varanasi:
Tara Book Agency.
This dissertation by S.B. Singh included a ‘geospatial study of belief systems’ as expressed in rural fairs and fes- tivals. Using a case study of the Ballia district, Singh studied fairs and festivals ‘… as major activities in religion’
(p. 16). He said (p. 16): ‘The close proximity and interplay of space/sacred time in any religions activity or ritual is the pre-requisite to get the sense of divinity resulting in providing mystic power.’ Employing field surveys, par- ticipatory observation, literary support, phenomenology and symbology, Singh examined growth and spatial pat- terns of the events, and their religious significance, both with a view to gaining greater understanding of the connections between events and religion and in making recommendations for management improvements.
Economics
According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, economics is a ‘social science that seeks to analyze and describe the production, distribution, and consumption of wealth’. John Tribe, author of The Economics of Recreation, Leisure and Tourism (2005), said that eco- nomics is concerned with scarce resources in the context of unlimited wants. Decisions therefore have to be made about what to produce, how to produce it, and the alloca- tion of goods and services (Figure 4.3).
Economics Nature and Antecedents Planning and Outcomes Processes and meanings: to attending producing and the patterns the event events events impacted
experience
• Macroeconomics • The experience • Economic • The event’s • Measuring • Economic (or ‘political and meanings incentives and business economic trends and economy’): the of consumption barriers to model and impacts forces functioning of • Perceived value consumption economic and (competition, whole economic for money, as or participation feasibility externalities globalization) systems it shapes the • Supply factors • Forecasting • Costs and
• Microeconomics: event (e.g., cost demand benefits the economics experience of travel, • Economic evaluated of consumers, alternatives) develop- (including
and of ment their
doing business policy as distribution)
(by firms or it affects
other the event
organizations) sector
Figure 4.3 Economics.