Stable institutions paradoxically enable rapid social acceleration
Evidence
Even if there can be no doubt that no equivalent force stands against the tendency of acceleration, it is nevertheless of great significance to understand the contribution that the institutional immobilization (Stillstellung) of central social background conditions has made to the accelerative success of modernity. … For individuals, there emerged reliable lifelong career paths that guided them from birth through education and on to retirement, and, for economic development, stable, long-term foundations were created for calculation and secure expectations. As I have tried to show, it was precisely this “slowness of the rules of the game” that made possible the immense acceleration of material reproduction and scientific-technological progress as well as the liquefaction of many, if not all, social relationships. — Hartmut Rosa, Social Acceleration, 296
Categorization
- DEFINE: This states the central paradox: immobilization of background conditions is the precondition for, not the enemy of, acceleration.
- ADDENDUM: Relates to the essay ‘Grafting & Growth: On Trees as Infrastructure’ — both explore how stable substrates enable dynamic growth above them.
- XREF: connects to: Modernity’s acceleration corrodes the very institutional stability it depends on — Hartmut Rosa, Social Acceleration: A New Theory of…, 297; Social acceleration is a self-reinforcing feedback loop — Hartmut Rosa, Social Acceleration: A New Theory of…, 434; Social acceleration erodes the institutions that once stabilized chosen identities. — Hartmut Rosa, Social Acceleration: A New Theory of…, 32 (+2 more)
Broader Connections
- Modernity’s acceleration corrodes the very institutional stability it depends on
#qualifies(0.85) — Hartmut Rosa, Social Acceleration, 297 - Institutional power enables through constraint rather than disruption
#corroborates(0.85) — David Theo Goldberg, The Threat of Race, 1822 - Social acceleration is a self-reinforcing feedback loop
#expands(0.80) — Hartmut Rosa, Social Acceleration, 434 - Social acceleration erodes the institutions that once stabilized chosen identities.
#complicates(0.80) — Hartmut Rosa, Social Acceleration, 32