The relevance of time for social policy

Lee Gregory

Chapter 1 in Time, Welfare and Society, 2026, pp 1-13 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: Chapter 1 establishes time as a foundational yet neglected dimension of Social Policy. It argues that welfare systems, policy processes and lived experiences are structured by multiple temporalities – life‑course norms, institutional schedules, cultural rhythms and power‑laden valuations of time. By contrasting absolute (clock‑based) time with qualitative, lived temporalities, the chapter shows how dominant neoliberal frameworks reduce time to productivity and efficiency, obscuring broader temporal dynamics essential to welfare. It introduces theory adaptation and Levitas's utopian method as tools for rethinking welfare concepts through temporality. The chapter positions time as central to understanding biographies, needs, inequalities and the post‑2008 mutation of neoliberalism. It sets out the project's ambition: to reconceptualise need, equality and citizenship by embedding time at their core and to enable more radical alternatives to existing welfare imaginaries.

Keywords: Temporality; Social policy theory; Neoliberalism; Life; Course; Time values; Temporal norms (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781800370807
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