Article,
The Generational Rivalry for Time
Time Society, 19 (1): 54--71 (2010)
DOI: 10.1177/0961463X09356222
Abstract
This article examines the effects of acceleration on the dynamic of time and power in generational relationships. The cultural patterns of an accelerated, hyperflexible life conduct in late modernity, it is argued, encourage a form of generational relationship characterized chiefly by the generational rivalry for time. In place of a steadfast gift of time' to younger generations appear various forms of the annexation of time'. Insofar, late modernity is distinguished by a generative paradox: while there is increased demand for the intensity of generational ties and the quality of generational relationships and while accelerated societies necessitate greater capacities for coping with more complex lives and the respective conditions of growing up, the preconditions for this in generational relationships have nevertheless become more precarious in a variety of ways.
