A theory of acceleration can defend its Western scope without claiming universality.

Evidence

Doesn’t the focus on the acceleration of processes and changes imply a certain Eurocentric conception of time, i.e., a linear, abstract, commodified one? Isn’t it the case that anyone who tries to develop a “theory of acceleration” must extensively study the time patterns and perspectives of non-European peoples and cultures? My reply to this criticism is that the present investigation does not aim at being a universal history of time or at the development of an ahistorical concept of social time, but rather represents an attempt to understand the essence and the developmental dynamic of modernity following Western patterns. — Hartmut Rosa, Social Acceleration, 144

Categorization

• DEFINE: Useful methodological model for bounding any theory to its actual object of study rather than overclaiming a universalist reach.
• XREF: connects to: Social acceleration is the irreducible master principle of modernization — Hartmut Rosa, Social Acceleration: A New Theory of…, 762