Modernization fundamentally transforms time structures and horizons themselves, not just events within time.

Evidence

Against this background the present work is not envisaged as a contribution to the sociology of time as such, i.e., it does not ask what time is, nor in what way it enters into and affects social practices and structures. Instead it seeks to contribute an adequate social-theoretical grasp of current social developments and problems in the context of the process of modernization and also the debate concerning a fracture in this process between a “classical” age of modernity and a “second” age of late or post modernity. Further, it aims to systematically work out their ethical and political implications. My guiding hypothesis is that modernization is not only a multileveled process in time but also signifies first and foremost a structural (and culturally highly significant) transformation of time structures and horizons themselves. Accordingly, the direction of alteration is best captured by the concept of social acceleration. The thesis is that without treating the temporal dimension as a categorial and central consideration in social theory one cannot account for present-day changes in social practices, institutions, and self-relations in Western societies. The point is neither to establish a further subfield (“the sociology of acceleration”) nor to justify an existing one (“the sociology of time”), but rather to reconceptualize contemporary social theory. — Hartmut Rosa, Social Acceleration, 80

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the reader’s general interest in social theory frameworks, echoing claims from Communication as Culture about how media technology structures culture rather than merely transmitting content. — connects to: Modernization transforms concepts of time wherever it spreads — Hartmut Rosa, Social Acceleration: A New Theory of…, 144; Modernity’s temporalization of time restructures every social form and concept. — Hartmut Rosa, Social Acceleration: A New Theory of…, 199; Treating time as a series of nows annihilates past, present, and future alike — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness: An Essay on…, 408 (+6 more)

Broader Connections

• Modernity’s temporalization of time restructures every social form and concept. #corroborates (0.95) — Hartmut Rosa, Social Acceleration, 199
• Modernity’s institutional framework has itself been set in motion. #corroborates (0.88) — Hartmut Rosa, Social Acceleration, 552
• Temporal structures reveal modernity’s underlying principles as if under a magnifying glass. #corroborates (0.85) — Hartmut Rosa, Social Acceleration, 103
• Treating time as a series of nows annihilates past, present, and future alike #complicates (0.80) — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness, 408
• Social acceleration is the irreducible master principle of modernization #qualifies (0.80) — Hartmut Rosa, Social Acceleration, 762
• Modernization shifts understanding from inherited tradition to risky rational agreement #expands (0.78) — Alex Callinicos, Against Postmodernism, 390
• Time now gets marked by technical upgrades rather than cultural forms #exemplifies (0.75) — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk, 1254
• Cultural modernity as a whole is a reaction to accelerated time #qualifies (0.75) — Hartmut Rosa, Social Acceleration, 154