A Society of Various Rhythms: The Case of Poland in the Context of Global Tendencies

The author reflects on time in contemporary culture—on changes in the experience and perception of time, and also on how temporal categories are used in analyses of social and cultural issues. She points out (1) new phenomena connected with the temporal regulation of collective life, and (2) new divisions and social differentiations in which a major role is played by the time dimension. The distribution of time and the manner of valuing time is changing, as is free time. The disappearance of calendars and extension of the present is accompanied by an excess of activities and lack of time in the world of wealth, and a simultaneous excess of time in the world of poverty and marginalization. These are traits of contemporaneity. An ‘unequal distribution of time’ appears in a ‘society of varying rhythms.’ Such phenomena are visible in Poland as well