Social time and the problem of desynchronization

Social Time and the Problem of Desynchronization

The paper starts from the observation that the temporality of modern society is characterized by a continuing process of social acceleration. This, in turn, leads to serious problems of de-synchronization. De-Synchronization is caused by the fact that not all spheres and systems are equally capable of speed-up. Hence, whenever an actor, institution or process is accelerated, the surrounding and intelocking systems experience temporal pressure. De-synchronization will be explored on the following four levels:

a) Inter-Economic: The speed of financial transactions and markets is too high for the speed of 'real' economic production and consumption

b) Inter-Social: The speed of economic transactions, technological innovation and cultural change is too high for democratic political decisionmaking

c) Environmental: The speed of social life is too fast for the environmental systems to reproduce ressources and dispose of waste

d) Psychological: The speed of social life is too fast for individual psychological dispositions; stress, depression, and burnout are the observable consequences