Society and Environment: Perspective of Time. About Sociology of Time and Time Management

Prostor i vrijeme oduvijek su bili dvije ključne dimenzije čovjekove egzistencije, ali se tijekom čovjekove kulturne evolucije različito percipiraju. U predmodernim društvima dominiralo je prirodno, ciklično vrijeme kao paradigma organizacije života lokalnih zajednica. U modernom društvu dominira linearno shvaćanje vremena i socijalno (kulturno) konstruirano vrijeme kao paradigma organizacije života. Glede uloge vremena u društvu, razlikuju se tri “kulture vremena” (Zeitkultur): “tradicionalna”, “moderna” i “kultura digitaliziranog vremena”. U članku se polazi od teze da postoje značajne razlike između prirodnih i socijalnih sustava, pa tako i razlike u njihovoj perspektivi vremena, vidljive u dvama poredcima vremena: prirodnom (cikličnom) i kulturnom (linearnom). Njihova konfrontacija u modernom društvu ima različite posljedice. Socijalnoekološka kriza posljedica je sudara cikličnog i linearnog vremena, tj. prostorni je i vremenski odraz neuvažavanja prirodnog vremena i dominacije socijalnog vremena s individualnim i socijalnim posljedicama. Glede toga, u članku se uspoređuju obilježja prirodnog i socijalnog sustava; objašnjava se zašto je vrijeme postalo relevantan sociološki problem u modernom društvu, vrijeme kao individualni i ekonomski resurs, te njegova važnost za ekonomiju vremena i menadžment vremena u organizaciji života modernog društva. Ističe se potreba oblikovanja “nove kulture vremena”. Za nju nije dostatna kritika ekonomije vremena, nego su potrebna razmišljanja ekologije vremena.Time and space have always been the two key aspects of human existence. However, in the course of man’s cultural evolution, they have been perceived differently. In pre-modern societies, natural, cyclic time was predominant as a paradigm of local communities’ organization of life. In modern society, linear time and socially (culturally) structured time dominates as a paradigm of organization of life. There are three “time cultures” (Zeitkultur) regarding the role of time in the society: “traditional”, “modern” and “the culture of digitalised time”. The article starts with the hypothesis that there are significant differences between natural and social systems; therefore, there are also differences in their time perspective as seen in natural (cyclic) and cultural (linear) perception of time. The confrontation of the two in modern society has its consequences. Socio-ecological crisis is the consequence of the cyclic – linear time clash; in time and space, in individuals and society as a whole, it reflects the neglect of the natural time and the dominance of the social time. The article compares the natural and the social system; it explains why time has become a relevant sociological problem in modern society, time as individual and economic resource, the importance of time economy and time management in the organization of modern life. The article points out the necessity to create a “new time culture”. For that, the criticism of time economy is not enough; time ecology needs to be considered