This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Adam, B. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Modern Times

The Technology Connection and its Implications for Social Theory

Modernity and technology are mutually defining. Each one necessarily and fundamentally implies the other. The dominant time mode within this conjunction is the legacy of Newtonian science and the attendant machine time of the clock. Deeply taken for granted in our daily lives and our social theories, it is not easily accessible to conscious reflection and social science analysis. This means that time needs to be made visible before its pervasive role in modernity can be appreciated. The paper's other, more controversial theme relates to the recognition that the technology of the late 20th century presents us with a multitude of times that can no longer be grasped with theoretical models based on machine time. Exploring those contemporary times we can identify first points of departure from the view of reality that has gripped the western world for over 200 years.

Key Words: modernity • social theory • technology • time

Time & Society, Vol. 1, No. 2, 175-191 (1992)
DOI: 10.1177/0961463X92001002003


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				M. Moshe Temporary versus Permanent: Time framing in the Israeli political arena Time Society, March 1, 2009; 18(1): 154 - 171. [Abstract] [PDF]

				C. M. Nascimento-Schulze Science and Society: To Indicate, to Motivate or to Persuade? Diogenes, February 1, 2008; 55(1): 133 - 142. [Abstract] [PDF]

				C. Leccardi Facing uncertainty: Temporality and biographies in the new century Young, May 1, 2005; 13(2): 123 - 146. [Abstract] [PDF]

				A. Melucci Inner Time and Social Time in a World of Uncertainty Time Society, September 1, 1998; 7(2-3): 179 - 191. [Abstract]

				E. Darier Time to be Lazy: Work, the Environment and Modern Subjectivities Time Society, September 1, 1998; 7(2-3): 193 - 208. [Abstract]

				C. Schwaller `The Millennium Time Bomb' or Year 2000 Problem: What Problem? Whose Problem? Time Society, March 1, 1998; 7(1): 105 - 118. [Abstract]

				A. Game Time Unhinged Time Society, July 1, 1997; 6(2-3): 115 - 129. [Abstract]

				M. Gunning Gendered Time in Law: Towards a New Concept of the Caring Citizen Time Society, July 1, 1997; 6(2-3): 323 - 336. [Abstract]

				C. Leccardi Rethinking Social Time: Feminist Perspectives Time Society, June 1, 1996; 5(2): 169 - 186. [Abstract]

				K. Kummerer The Ecological Impact of Time Time Society, June 1, 1996; 5(2): 209 - 235. [Abstract]

				B. Adam Beyond boundaries: reconceptualizing time in the face of global challenges Social Science Information, December 1, 1994; 33(4): 597 - 620.

				R. Silverstone Time, Information and Communication Technologies and the Household Time Society, September 1, 1993; 2(3): 283 - 311. [Abstract]

				C. Leccardi and M. Rampazi Past and Future in Young Women's Experience of Time Time Society, September 1, 1993; 2(3): 353 - 379. [Abstract]

				B. Adam Within and beyond the time economy of employment relations: conceptual issues pertinent to research on time and work Social Science Information, June 1, 1993; 32(2): 163 - 184.