Abstract
InPressed for Time: The Acceleration of Life in Digital Capitalism, sociology professor Judy Wajcman responds to the “dominant narrative” in Western society that we are on a runaway technology train that speeds up our lives in ways that are beyond our control. She interrogates the idea that our increasingly digital society is creating what many calltime povertyin our professional and personal lives. In fact, one of the central questions of the book is how we can make sense of the “time pressure paradox.” That is, if technology is supposed to save us time, how is it that we feel so pressed for it? Why do we, as the privileged owners of technology, feel as though our lives are increasingly harried? In response, Wajcman systematically breaks down the causal relationship between feeling rushed and technology, arguing that the frantic way we use technology in the workplace and home is more symptomatic of our society’s structure than the result of the tools we use.
Throughout the book, Wajcman proffers a unique style that is a blend of accessible plain speak and more complex academic frameworks (e.g., references to “assemblages,” “determinism,” “actor-network theory”). The effect is an informed, critical perspective that is digestible for a wide variety of educated audiences, but especially those interested in sociological or rhetorical theories. From a pedagogical perspective, the book is well suited to sparking discussion among higher level students in business communication, rhetoric, or sociology—especially in courses that have a digital focus. A general business audience may also find value in this book as it challenges and explains various workplace assumptions associated with the intersection of time and productivity. However, it is more intellectually intriguing than immediately applicable. In other words, this is not an empirical study ofhow tohelp workers manage their time more efficiently, rather it problematizes stereotypes and norms surrounding our discussion of and understanding of time.
This careful exploration of the narratives surrounding time and technology is particularly important in light of the growing body of research about communication technology’s impact on our lives, for example, growing email volumes (Hartman, Lewis, & Powell, 2002), teaching appropriate instant messaging skills (Newman, 2007), and texting in the workplace (Kiddie, 2014). Wajcman goes beyond studying these technologies and how we can incorporate them into the classroom and the workplace and asks critical questions about our assumptions and perceptions regarding these speed-oriented tools.
The book is divided into seven chapters that each look at a facet of time pressure (e.g., in relation to communication technologies, domestic technologies, the history of time and technology). The chapters are broken up by helpful headers and conclusion sections that increase the digestibility of the information. Her typical chapter-by-chapter structure is to set up particular societal beliefs and all their evidence and then agree and disagree with portions of them. Though this may be disorienting for readers looking for a quick ruling on each topic, it ultimately creates a more nuanced understanding of conceptions of time in our society. This is one of the strongest suits of the book—Wajcman’s ability to perform a delicate balance between recognizing the profound impact technology has had on our culture while challenging oversimplified or sky-is-falling stances about its uses.
For example, though Wajcman accepts the positive premise that technology has revolutionized aspects of our lives like communication and transportation, in Chapter 1 she uses a Science and Technology Studies lens to question the determinist idea that faster devices naturally speed up or constrict our time. Instead, she asks us to think of “the relationship between technology and time as one of ongoing mutual shaping” (p. 31). She espouses the need to reexamine our view of technology as predetermined and existing outside of our control.
Additionally, her treatment of the unquestioned link between money and time in capitalistic societies may be particularly of interest to business audiences. This notion is developed in Chapter 2 when she explores the historical roots of the modern conception of time as a commodity. To do so, she traces our always-on, always-connected ideology back to the Puritan work ethic, the commodification of clock time in factories, the advent of the automobile, the condensing of life activities in cities, and the belief that progress is inextricably linked to the greater good.
In Chapter 3, Wajcman further unpacks the time-pressure paradox, arguing that perceived rush is partially due to varying allocations of time across people from different genders and classes. So though on average individuals are not empirically more pressed for time, women, for example, are feeling the pinch as they enter the workforce while maintaining household duties. Furthermore, modern parents tend to put more pressure on themselves to be deeply involved in parenting during their remaining downtime because of their “cultural ideals of intensive parenting combined with the nostalgia for a mythical past of more quality family time” (p. 67). The impact of household technologies on gender roles and time allocation is further explored in Chapter 5. For instance, Wajcman challenges the idea that domestic technologies have freed up women for more leisure time. (Her frequent focus on feminist concepts in the book is unsurprising given previous works likeTechnofeminism.)
Additionally, throughout the piece Wajcman problematizes the measurement of time in purely quantitative terms, arguing that we must also examine the quality of modern time. So although on average people are not spending more countable hours in the workplace, many feel constrained because of their currentexperienceof time. Contributing factors to this frantic experience include the stress of poorly aligning work and family schedules and increasing “time density” as we attempt to accomplish multiple tasks at once. Similarly, providing care to children and the elderly requires a slower, more intentional quality of time, so the determinist idea that technology can reduce or replace the drudgery of our daily tasks is unrealistic. Thus, attributing our constant rush to technology or believing it can alleviate our problems would be to ignore significant societal factors that add to the crunch.
Exploring workplace time rhetoric further in Chapter 4, Wajcman pushes against the concept that technology forces unwelcomed interruptions on us in the workplace. Instead, her research has shown that modern workers utilize technology to manage their communication and priorities, as an integrated component versus a distraction. In Chapter 6, she explores mobile devices and the increasing trend of working from home. Here she confronts the widely held belief that mobile devices are allowing for the “colonization of personal time” (p. 143). Conversely, she references research that shows that only 3% of evening calls are work related; furthermore, many workers report that technology helps thembettermanage their personal lives throughout the day. Wajcman further resists the idea that mobile devices strip us of free time and agency by pointing out the complex personal systems that people put in place to manage communication. For example, a worker might take calls from close family but restrict friend discussions to text or after-work email.
In the book’s conclusion chapter, Wajcman returns to the societal ideologies that underlie the feeling of being pressed for time. Instead of blaming this phenomenon on technology, she reminds us that as a society we tend to value busyness as a sign of social status, we associate speed with innovation, we demonize the unemployed, and we forget that time is not evenly distributed across people due to differing expectations of gender, age, economic class, and societal role. Thus, she urges us to take a step back and reconsider our assumptions about technology. Tools only reflect their makers, and perhaps if we are feeling pressed for time, we need to reevaluate our values, remembering our ability to shape society into what we want it to be. Ultimately, she hopes that her readers will leave behind the old dichotomies about technologies being either inherently liberating or enslaving . . . [and instead] be skeptical about both extreme positions: the messianic promise of a technologically-wrought new epoch on the one hand and a blanket rejection of dominance by machines on the other. (p. 3)
Overall, the book is a smart collection of research from academic and industry sources that challenges our assumptions about the modern world. Not content to allow us to lament the tyranny of devices in our lives, Wajcman urges us to consider where our time is really going and how technology reflects our beliefs versus puppeteers our lives. The book is a provoking piece that is well suited for critical thinking classes and an interesting read for anyone who is curious about the impact of devices on his or her life.