The Structures and Meanings of Social Time

Abstract

This paper proposes a paradigm for the sociology of time. After exploring some defining characteristics of social time, it presents a preliminary typology of social times corresponding to different levels of social structure. The linkages among levels of social structure and the temporal variables of embeddedness, synchronicity, and stratification raise important questions about the ways in which the forms of social time may be related. From the typology concrete propositions are extracted which address these questions as well as the question of how these relationships may affect organizations and individuals. Finally, the paper suggests possible ways to ground parts of the theoretical presentation in operationalized hypotheses ready for empirical testing.