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 Google Scholar Articles by Southerton, D. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                   What's this?

`Squeezing Time'

Allocating Practices, Coordinating Networks and Scheduling Society

Dale Southerton, CRIC, Manchester University, Harold Hawkins Building, Booth Street West, Manchester M13 9QH, UK Dale.Southerton{at}man.ac.uk

The `time squeeze', notions of `rush' and `harried' are popular concerns in contemporary society. This article reports on interviews with 20 suburban households who all suggested that people feel increasingly harried. Respondents were quick to suggest a set of generic narratives to explain the causes of `harriedness', notably that people `work more' and `consume more' - the same explanation offered by prominent academic analyses. However, such explanations did not tally with their `experiences' of harriedness. It is argued that `harriedness' was generated by a felt need to allocate and schedule practices within designated time frames (which created hot spots). This was `necessary' in order to coordinate practices within social networks and to `free-up' other time frames (cold spots) for interaction with significant others. On the one hand, this suggests a rationalized conception of time as subject to personal control. On the other, such individual responses (to schedule and allocate) to the perceived `time squeeze' were responses to a collective problem. In a society where increasingly people feel the need to generate personal schedules, temporal alignment within networks becomes problematic. In attempting to schedule practices, which often required employment of convenience devices and services, respondents reported a growing anxiety that care is compromised by convenience. It was this anxiety that made the `time squeeze' discourse meaningful to respondents.

Key Words: allocation • convenience • coordination • harried • practice

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

This article has been cited by other articles:

				O. Sullivan Busyness, Status Distinction and Consumption Strategies of the Income Rich, Time Poor Time Society, March 1, 2008; 17(1): 5 - 26. [Abstract] [PDF]

				J. D. Lindquist and C. Kaufman-Scarborough The Polychronic Monochronic Tendency Model: PMTS scale development and validation Time Society, September 1, 2007; 16(2-3): 253 - 285. [Abstract] [PDF]

				T. Kremer-Sadlik and A. L. Paugh Everyday Moments: Finding `quality time' in American working families Time Society, September 1, 2007; 16(2-3): 287 - 308. [Abstract] [PDF]

				O. Sullivan and T. Katz-Gerro The Omnivore Thesis Revisited: Voracious Cultural Consumers Eur. Sociol. Rev., April 1, 2007; 23(2): 123 - 137. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. Hand and E. Shove Condensing Practices: Ways of living with a freezer Journal of Consumer Culture, March 1, 2007; 7(1): 79 - 104. [Abstract] [PDF]

				A. B. Bugge and R. Almas Domestic dinner: Representations and practices of a proper meal among young suburban mothers Journal of Consumer Culture, July 1, 2006; 6(2): 203 - 228. [Abstract] [PDF]

				D. Southerton Analysing the Temporal Organization of Daily Life:: Social Constraints, Practices and their Allocation Sociology, June 1, 2006; 40(3): 435 - 454. [Abstract] [PDF]

				C. Kaufman-Scarborough Time Use and the Impact of Technology: Examining workspaces in the home Time Society, March 1, 2006; 15(1): 57 - 80. [Abstract] [PDF]

				J. Larsson and C. Sanne Self-help Books on Avoiding Time Shortage Time Society, September 1, 2005; 14(2-3): 213 - 230. [Abstract] [PDF]

				H. Jarvis Moving to London Time: Household co-ordination and the infrastructure of everyday life Time Society, March 1, 2005; 14(1): 133 - 154. [Abstract] [PDF]

				L. Corradi Book Review: Modern Times/Ancient Hours. Working Lives in the Twenty-first Century Time Society, March 1, 2005; 14(1): 155 - 157. [PDF]

				L. Martens, D. Southerton, and S. Scott Bringing Children (and Parents) into the Sociology of Consumption: Towards a Theoretical and Empirical Agenda Journal of Consumer Culture, July 1, 2004; 4(2): 155 - 182. [Abstract] [PDF]

				C. Kaufman-Scarborough and J. D. Lindquist Understanding the Experience of Time Scarcity: Linking Consumer Time-Personality and Marketplace Behavior Time Society, September 1, 2003; 12(2-3): 349 - 370. [Abstract] [PDF]