Project abstract
1. Objective of conducted research
The project elaborates on the problem of social time defined as the hidden system of social, cultural and personal life, also described as ‘deep structure’ for every culture. In the project I am trying to answer the question what is the impact of cultural practices related to time management on choreography of temporality in neoliberal subjects. I define temporality as issues related to the way of experiencing and perception of time by individuals, cultural concepts of time and social patterns regulating dynamics of daily and institutional life, while when I mention choreography of temporality, I mean time as a tool used to organize social life. According to the Michel Foucault’s theoretical perspective I assumed, I define cultural practices of time management as power technologies, microphysics of disciplinary institutions, oppressive tools shaping temporality of certain social objects. |
In the project I am going to investigate techniques presented during time management trainings aiming to make their participants be more efficient in realization of identified goals and more productive at work, as well as strategies individuals work out in the contemporary culture of hurriedness and efficiency pursuing to achieve such neoliberal values as effectiveness, innovativeness and creativity. The important element of ‘time regimes’ are new technologies used by individuals by for time management purposes and subjecting our bodies to discipline by means of power mechanisms. They include ICT technologies, computers, mobile devices, contemporary time planners, modern calendars and portable organizers. Devices used for choreography of temporality of social actors start changes linked to how temporal phenomena are perceived and are a result of more and more perceptible blending of leisure and labour. New technologies are non-human actors, though having some causal power. Conducting research with reference to the Actor-Network Theory by Bruno Latour makes it possible to have greater understanding of variety of time management practices that are as social- as technology-related and equally belong to the sphere of nature (adjusted to the natural biorhythm of a human body under pressure of neoliberal rhetoric) and culture.
2. Applied research method
As an anthropology tool of cultural critic, the projects aims to defamiliarize clock time defined as something natural and obvious for the Western culture. The significant advantage of the project is ethnographic field research that makes it possible to get to social practices and knowledge on neoliberalism manifestation in microscales, when it comes to investigation of cultural symptoms of neoliberalism. The project merges the perspective of cultural anthropology and the qualitative analysis of changes occurring as a result of development of neoliberal ideology. The presented methodology approach can be defined as ethnography of experiencing temporality of social objects. Wishing to answer the main question of the project, I am going to use the following research techniques: online ethnographic research, participant observation and individual in-depth interviews. Research material obtained by means of ethnography shall be analyzed by means of the genealogical method by Foucault and the Actor-Network Theory by Latour.
3. Influence on anticipated results on development of science, civilization and society
The reason to analyze this research topic in a need to investigate phenomena resulting in socio-economic changes occurring in the age of neoliberalism defined as the basic, political and economic paradigm of contemporaneity. These changes are often interpreted as unintended and unanticipated consequences of modern approach to time, characterized with significant acceleration, future-related accumulation and planning. It leads to the growing role of the present time, acceleration and delinearization of social time. Project’s innovativeness results from considering economic and technological issues that are strictly related to cultural practices of time management. Research embedded in the context of global capitalism will provide a new approach to temporal aspects of technological progress and information revolution. Test results will have particular influence on development of the following subdisciplines: 1) economic anthropology by referring to the contemporary context of economy and the role of time in the practice of governance and management, 2) anthropology of neoliberalism by referring to division into labour and leisure time in the context of deregulation and flexibility of these elements in the neoliberal age and 3) anthropology of time and time studies by determining features of temporal organization of daily life and social patterns of temporal behaviour constituting practices of constructing social objects.
As an anthropology tool of cultural critic, the projects aims to defamiliarize clock time defined as something natural and obvious for the Western culture. The significant advantage of the project is ethnographic field research that makes it possible to get to social practices and knowledge on neoliberalism manifestation in microscales, when it comes to investigation of cultural symptoms of neoliberalism. The project merges the perspective of cultural anthropology and the qualitative analysis of changes occurring as a result of development of neoliberal ideology. The presented methodology approach can be defined as ethnography of experiencing temporality of social objects. Wishing to answer the main question of the project, I am going to use the following research techniques: online ethnographic research, participant observation and individual in-depth interviews. Research material obtained by means of ethnography shall be analyzed by means of the genealogical method by Foucault and the Actor-Network Theory by Latour.
3. Influence on anticipated results on development of science, civilization and society
The reason to analyze this research topic in a need to investigate phenomena resulting in socio-economic changes occurring in the age of neoliberalism defined as the basic, political and economic paradigm of contemporaneity. These changes are often interpreted as unintended and unanticipated consequences of modern approach to time, characterized with significant acceleration, future-related accumulation and planning. It leads to the growing role of the present time, acceleration and delinearization of social time. Project’s innovativeness results from considering economic and technological issues that are strictly related to cultural practices of time management. Research embedded in the context of global capitalism will provide a new approach to temporal aspects of technological progress and information revolution. Test results will have particular influence on development of the following subdisciplines: 1) economic anthropology by referring to the contemporary context of economy and the role of time in the practice of governance and management, 2) anthropology of neoliberalism by referring to division into labour and leisure time in the context of deregulation and flexibility of these elements in the neoliberal age and 3) anthropology of time and time studies by determining features of temporal organization of daily life and social patterns of temporal behaviour constituting practices of constructing social objects.