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Alienation and Acceleration
Towards a Critical Theory of Late-Modern Temporality
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Brief Description
Modern life is speeding up, constantly. While the art of saving time reaches unprecedented heights through the introduction of ever-new technologies of communication and production, it nevertheless feels as though we are running out of time. In all Western societies, time scarcity is increasing and individuals...
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Alienation and Acceleration
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Description
Modern life is speeding up, constantly. While the art of saving time reaches unprecedented heights through the introduction of ever-new technologies of communication and production, it nevertheless feels as though we are running out of time. In all Western societies, time scarcity is increasing and individuals report the impression of having to run faster and faster every year – not in order to get somewhere, but just to stay where they are.
In this short book, Hartmut Rosa outlines his theory of social acceleration and uses it to analyse the causes and consequences of the temporal processes that characterise modern societies. He shows that modern temporal structures are governed by the logic of an acceleration process that defines the essence of modernity. He also develops a critical theory of social acceleration, arguing that acceleration leads to severe forms of alienation from time and space, from things and actions and from self and others, thus constituting a key obstacle to the realisation of a 'good life' in late-modern society.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9781509572076
Publisher: John Wiley and Sons Ltd
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 27 March 2026
Country: United Kingdom
Imprint: Polity Press
Audience: Tertiary education, Professional and scholarly
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 15.0mm
Width: 137.0mm
Height: 214.0mm
Weight: 680g
Pages: 144
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About the Author
Hartmut Rosa is Professor of Sociology in the Institute of Sociology at the Friedrich Schiller University of Jena, and Director of the Max Weber Center for Advanced Cultural and Social Studies at the University of Erfurt, Germany.
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