Time, Space and Regionalisation

Abstract

Most social analysts treat time and space as mere environments of action, and accept unthinkingly the conception of time, as mensurable clock time, characteristic of modern Western culture. With the exception of the recent works of geographers — of which more in a moment — social scientists have failed to construct their thinking around the modes in which social systems are constituted across time-space. I want to argue that investigation of this issue is one main task of what I call the theory of structuration; it is not a specific type or ‘area’ of social science, which can be pursued or discarded at will. It is at the heart of social theory, and should hence also be regarded as of very considerable importance for the conduct of empirical research in the social sciences.