Time, clocks and social life

Lee Gregory

Chapter 2 in Time, Welfare and Society, 2026, pp 14-30 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: Chapter 2 deepens the theoretical groundwork by tracing how clock time became dominant in capitalist societies. It explains how industrialisation and wage labour embedded absolute, measurable time as a coordinating mechanism, shaping social norms, labour discipline and institutional routines. The chapter contrasts this with diverse lived temporalities – cultural, institutional, interactional and self‑time – drawing on Lewis and Weigert, Adam, and Rosa's theory of social acceleration. It shows how clock time hegemony devalues activities such as care, rest and relational work, creates time poverty and feeds contemporary pressures of speed and efficiency. By mapping how multiple temporalities coexist and often conflict, the chapter demonstrates why welfare systems must account for temporal diversity. These insights anchor later reconceptualisations of need, equality and citizenship.

Keywords: Clock time; Social acceleration; Temporal diversity; Industrialisation; Care time; Time poverty (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781800370807
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