Social Time, Bodies and the “Logic of Waiting” in the Configuration of Urban Sensibilities

Ana Lucía Cervio,Victoria D’Hers

doi:10.4236/cus.2014.21005

Abstract

Considering the acceleration of social time encouraged by the ever increasing speed in the circulation of goods and products in the current phase of capitalist development, it becomes essential to reflect on the configuration of social sensibilities. Particularly, the logic is embodied in the way city dwellers are, in their feelings and in their modes of possessing (physical things/property). Based on observations from Argentine life that illustrate the unequal access to basic urban services and goods, this article assesses the concept of “waiting mechanism” and its articulation with social sensibilities in peripheral urban contexts. The main assumptions of this analysis are that “waiting” affects bodies and that the experience of the city results from the class inter-play of social and bodily distance and proximity, which opens certain paths and closes others. From this standpoint, it is demonstrated that this “logic of waiting” yields feelings of helplessness socially reproduced through the assertion that “things will always be this way” and structured from the repetition of the experience of lacking (lack of access to basic sanitation, lack of possibilities of transportation, and so on). Thus, the emergence of “waiting” as an ability becomes problematic since it is one of the mechanisms manifesting the living conditions of people (and their historically constructed sensibilities) from the outskirts of cities in the twenty-first century.

Highlights

“Better times will eventually come...” Considering the current proliferation of objects and technologies associated with immediate delight, shortened distances, limitless communication and boundless interactions, the city appears to the observer as a privileged setting for the development and consumption of cultural and technological innovation, being both triumphs of the “information era”
The image of a segmented city emerges, one characterized by unequal access to material goods and differential sociabilities, emotions and rights. Given this critical assessment of nowadays urban life, the experience of social time emerges as a key element to understand how city dwellers’ sensibilities are structured, those of the citizens inhabiting the urban periphery
Two are the main assumptions underlying the analysis proposed in this article

Summary

Introduction

“Better times will eventually come...” Considering the current proliferation of objects and technologies associated with immediate delight, shortened distances, limitless communication and boundless interactions, the city appears to the observer as a privileged setting for the development and consumption of cultural and technological innovation, being both triumphs of the “information era”. It is common to hear that access to the Internet, mobile phones, GPS devices, webcams and digital photo cameras are instruments that stimulate flows and organize the time-space dimension They multiply the ability to transmit and receive information, and influence the modes in which people conduct personal relationships, do business, do shopping, or learn (e.g. from the comfort of the office, a coffee-shop, or a park at any time). The image of a segmented city emerges, one characterized by unequal access to material goods and differential sociabilities, emotions and rights Given this critical assessment of nowadays urban life, the experience of social time emerges as a key element to understand how city dwellers’ sensibilities are structured, those of the citizens inhabiting the urban periphery. The third section outlines some thoughts on social time, sensibilities and the “logic of waiting” as a mechanism of social bearability in contexts of socio-spatial segregation

Between Kronos and Kairos

Some Urban Scenes in Contemporany Argentina

Findings

Social Time and the Logic of Waiting as a Mechanism of Social Bearability