The Dictionary of Human Geography

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as the founding of the World Bank in 1944.

The modern World Bank contains two institu-

tions: the International Bank for Recons-

truction and Development (IBRD) and the

International Development Association

(IDA). The IBRD made the first World Bank

loan: $250 million to France in May 1947 for

the reconstruction of its war-torn economy.

The IBRD continues to be active in middle-

income and transitional economies, providing

loans for disaster relief purposes, in post-

conflict situations and to post-socialist

economies. Since 1991, The European Bank

for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)

has joined the IBRD in central Europe and

central Asia.

Reconstruction efforts sponsored by the

IBRD and the EBRD have not been without

their critics. Both institutions are committed

to what they describe as democratization

andmarket-led economic growth, and the

agendas of goodgovernanceor the new pub-

lic administration feature strongly in their self-

descriptions. However, good governance was

not at the top of the reconstruction agenda

in Russia under President Yeltsin: the shock

therapy recommended by Yeltsin’s advisers –

including the Americans Jeffrey Sachs and

David Lipton – led not only to price decontrol

and currency convertibility, but also to the

wholesale transfer of state assets to private

monopolists. Sachs prefers to speak of ‘radical

reforms’ rather than shock therapy (2005,

p. 135) – but the shocking result of these

measures (shocking, at any rate, to some

mainstream economists) was a ruthless and

often violent struggle forpower, assets and

territory. Far from providing an equitable

restructuring of the economy of the former

Soviet Union, reconstruction efforts have

too often led to what David Harvey (2003b)

calls ‘accumulation by dispossession’ (see

alsoprimitive accumulation). Hugely widen-

ing inequalities in income levels andhealth-

careprovision have been just two results of

reconstruction in Russia. Elsewhere, as in the

Czech Republic and Poland, less dramatic

reconstruction efforts have come closer to meet-

ing the targets set by their governments and

their international counterparts. sco

Suggested reading

Hoogvelt (2001); Ledeneva (1998).

recreation Pursuits or activities (even

inactivity) undertaken voluntarily outside paid

employment for the primary purpose of pleas-

ure, enjoyment and satisfaction. Recreational

activities tend to be distinguished, in academic

studies, fromsportsas not involving formal

rules of competition. Such a division is also

problematic, as sports may be undertaken

non-competitively (e.g. one might play golf

without competing), and other activities

may involve more-or-less competitive elem-

ents with greater or lesser formalization (e.g.

multi-player computer games contain highly

formalized rules for competition, but would

rarely be considered a sport). Recreational

activities could be part oftourism, if occur-

ring away from the place of domicile, or

leisure, if occurring while at home, and the

definitions of all the categories are very

porous. A number of distinctions are often

made regarding recreation’s orientation and

organization.

Formal and informal recreations are often

differentiated. Formal recreation involves

activities that are structured and organized

by an external body in prescribed times or

places. This would thus include clubs, hobby

societies and other organizations.Informalrec-

reation refers to self-organized activities

occurring at times and/or places of the indi-

vidual’s own choosing. Trends to formalize

more recreational activities have been linked

to their commodification and the increasing

sale of recreational goods – the production of

which has become a major industry in the

developed world. A further division often made

is between passive and active recreation –

playing in a band is active, while listening

to one is passive. This distinction imports

judgements freighted with normative values.

A variety of policy initiatives aroundhealth

have sought to encourage ‘active’ forms of

recreation to increase fitness. Likewise, moral

panics have often linked passive recreation to

fears of youngster’s becoming ‘couch potatoes’

or otherwise harmed by the passive enjoyment

of especially digital media. The assumption of

passive consumption is contestable, since

consumers may actively contribute to events

and participate in numerous ways – transform-

ing events or goods through their interpret-

ations and reactions.

Geographies of recreation have tended to

focus upon the effects on the environment and

our relationship with it, and then the way in

which spaces structure the availability and

nature of recreational opportunities. For

instance, the development of climbing fashions

bothdiscoursesand tactile or haptic ways of

knowing and valuing the environment (Lorimer

and Lund, 2003; Taylor, 2006b). Alternatively,

looking at environmental effects (such as

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RECREATION