Leisure is in the vanguard of a social and cultural revolution which is replacing the former east/west political bipolarity with a globalized economic system in which the new Europe has a central role. Within this revolution, leisure, including recreation, culture and tourism, is constructed as the epitome of success ful capitalist development, the very legitimation of the global transmogrification from a production to a con sumption orientation. While acting as a direct en couragement to the political transformation in many eastern European states, it is uncertain how the issue of leisure policy is being handled, given its centrality to the new economic order. This article therefore examines the experience of western Europe, con sidering in particular the degree to which the newly created Department of National Heritage in the UK provides a potential model for leisure development and policy integration in the new Europe. Despite an official rhetoric of support and promotion of leisure activities, reflecting the growing economic significance of tourism and the positive relationship between leisure provision and regional economic development, the article establishes that in the place of the tra ditional role of the state in promoting leisure interests, the introduction of the department has sig nified a shift to the use of leisure to promote the government's interests, particularly in regenerating citizen rights claims towards the market. While an institution such as the Department of National Heri tage may have relevance to emerging states as an element in the maintenance of political hegemony, therefore, it is questionable how far it can be viewed as a promoter or protector of leisure as a signifier of a newly won political, economic and cultural freedom throughout Europe.
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