Time and governance – part I
Time has been for too long a relatively “hidden” concept in mainstream discussions about politics, more often presupposed rather than clearly articulated. With the advent of globalization studies, time has emerged as a central focal point of contemporary social and political transformations. “Time and governance” explores the multiple intersections between time and politics in the attempt to rethink democratic theory and practice.
Robert Hassan – No future: Democracy in the age of neoliberal speed
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Today, now-focussed executive government bypasses people and parliaments to function in the service of now-centred economic imperatives, argues Robert Hassan. Democracy will eventually die if we continue to unthinkingly accept that our short-termism and reliance on abstract market mechanisms will look after our future. |
Neni Panourgia – Kant, civil war and the folds of meaning
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Do Civil Wars determine time? Or, otherwise, are Civil Wars determined by time, asks Neni Panourgia. With particular reference to the Greek Civil War, she answers that this depends as much on what one might mean by “time” as much as what one might mean by “civil war.” |
Rosiska Darcy de Oliveira – The re-enginnering of time
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The re-engineering of time does not simply involve the re-organisation of labour or family relations, argues Rosiska Darcy de Oliveira. The organisation of time is inherently related to the debate, in both the private and the public spheres, on the pursuit of happinness, the good life, and ethical responsibility. |
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The implementation of labour market reform, including the introduction of flexible working time arrangements, has thus far, been poorly conceived and/or inadequately implemented, thereby making adjustment of the European economic and social model hard to realize, suggests Nikos Koutsiaras. |
Bryce Goebel – “what lies behind the notion of progress”
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“Shorter of breath,” never seeming to find the time, we haven’t changed much: thought, expression, identity, compassion, and communication are the lies behind the notion of progress. Maybe a light regress in Pink Floyd’s “Time” is what we should seek. |
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Jonathan Pugh – Reflections upon the relationship between space, time and governance
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Jonathan Pugh shows how the conception of ‘space’, ‘time’ and ‘governance’ as separate spheres of inquiry often makes us lose sight of the importance of the overlapping, and often conflicting, ‘space-time imaginaries’ that we experience in our everyday lives. |
Kingsley Dennis – Real-time and the politics of presence
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Linear thinking will no longer be an effective mode of understanding how social engagement and civil politics are enacted within an environment increasingly unfolding in real-time. Kingsley Dennis proposes that the success in civil participation and mobilisation may rely more on connectivity and speed than content and power. |