Production, family, and free-time projects: a time-geographic perspective on the individual and societal change in nineteenth-century U.S. cities

Abstract

Time-geography, with its path and project concepts, is very well suited for seeking insights regarding the interplay between individual behavior and experience, the workings of society, and societal change. In order to demonstrate this suitability the impacts of the emergence of the factory and large-scale shop mode of production in nineteenth-century U.S. cities are examined. Particular emphasis is placed on the timespace requirements of production projects, or activities, and their impact both on the functioning of the family and individual participation in “free-time” projects outside the home.