‘Who owns time?’: Reflecting on the temporal dimension of sustainability with Zapatista and Norwegian educators

Abstract

ABSTRACT Sustainability involves a temporal dimension connecting the past, the present and the future. This article explores the significance of time for sustainability education. It discusses how the understanding of this temporal dimension shapes humans’ relationship with the world and affects the political engagement of the educator with sustainability and the view of herself as a political agent of change. To do so, the article uses an assemblage methodology inspired by Deleuze and Guattari’s (1987) rhizome to connect the experiences of Norwegian early childhood educators and members of the Zapatista organization. Using a critical theory lens and Paulo Freire’s views of educators as cultural workers (Freire 2005, 2017), the article explores two aspects of the temporal dimension that educators relate to across contexts. First, time as a resource, conditioning the relation to the present, the day-to day rhythm and work from a Marxist perspective. Secondly, sustainability’s future orientation, with its connections to the political role of the educator as the creator of social reality. The encounters between Zapatista and Norwegian perspectives show how educators’ positions and roles in reflecting upon, engaging with, and reappropriating the notion of time, are central for sustainability education.