Anthony Giddens argued that although we may consider a trivial commonsense the fact that social activity is developed in space and time, paradoxically, ‘neither time nor space have been incorporated into the centre of social theory; rather, they are ordinarily treated more as ‘environments’ in which social conduct is enacted’. In this paper, I will try to develop this apparently ‘trivial’ statement, discussing also some implications of this spacetime embeddedness of social activity. In particular, in the first and second paragraphs I discuss the critical analysis of Barbara Adam about the classical contrapposition between circular and linear time, from the point of view of physical anthropology. In the third paragraph, I critically analyse the ontological space-time constraints to which the human body is subjected. Finally, in the fourth paragraph, using an ecological and phenomenological approach about technique as a skilled practise, I discuss the relevant implications that time analysis involves for technology studies.
Body, (space)time and technology
NICOLOSI, GUIDO
2011-01-01
Abstract
Anthony Giddens argued that although we may consider a trivial commonsense the fact that social activity is developed in space and time, paradoxically, ‘neither time nor space have been incorporated into the centre of social theory; rather, they are ordinarily treated more as ‘environments’ in which social conduct is enacted’. In this paper, I will try to develop this apparently ‘trivial’ statement, discussing also some implications of this spacetime embeddedness of social activity. In particular, in the first and second paragraphs I discuss the critical analysis of Barbara Adam about the classical contrapposition between circular and linear time, from the point of view of physical anthropology. In the third paragraph, I critically analyse the ontological space-time constraints to which the human body is subjected. Finally, in the fourth paragraph, using an ecological and phenomenological approach about technique as a skilled practise, I discuss the relevant implications that time analysis involves for technology studies.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.