Society and Information Research Group

SIRG is delighted to announce that the next meeting will be devoted to a presentation by the distinguished academic Professor Judy Wacman of the London School of Economics. The meeting (which is open to all) will be at 2.00 in the Systems Seminar Room (Venables, S0049) at Walton Hall. Professor Wajcman has supplied the following abstract.

Life in the fast lane? Towards a sociology of technology and time

The subject of time has become a major preoccupation in academic and popular writing because people feel short of it. It is now conventional wisdom to think that more and more aspects of our lives are speeding up. While many factors are contributing to this phenomenon, information and communication technologies are seen as the main drivers. Images of technologically tethered, blackberry-addicted workers abound. This talk considers the way social theorists analyse concepts of time and acceleration and then examines how these claims might be assessed in the light of empirical research. Such research shows that time compression has multiple dimensions, and that the effect of digital devices like the mobile phone is not simply one of acceleration. In particular, I suggest that the social studies of technology offers a richer analysis of the reciprocal relationship between technological innovation and changing time practices.

Judy Wacjman’s web page:

http://www2.lse.ac.uk/sociology/whoswho/academic/wajcman.aspx