Sociology of time and speed: Dynamic forms of social life

Catalog description

Why do we experience time differently when we are at play versus at work, when we are in danger versus in an activity we enjoy? This course examines dynamic forms of social life from cultural, economic, political, and psychological perspectives. These conceptions of time include Durkheim's distinction of sacred and profane time, Marx's conception of commodity as externalized/dead labor time, and Virilio's correlation between military and cinematic perception of movement to mutually reinforcing fluidity of social identities and data. We will see how sociology can bring together these multifaceted aspects of social production and time, speed and historicity.