Abstract

LABAJOS SEBASTIAN, Vidal. Cities and merchants: modern times and social complexity in the works of Moishe Postone and Norbert Elias. Andamios [online]. 2023, vol.20, n.51, pp.439-466.  Epub Sep 29, 2023. ISSN 2594-1917.  https://doi.org/10.29092/uacm.v20i51.1014.

In the present article, I want to compare the theoretical proposals of Norbert Elias and Moishe Postone concerning the emergence and historical nature of time in modern societies. To do so, I will first contextualize this discussion in the broader debate about the origins and social and theoretical implications of modern time that has been established in historiography and historical sociology. Later, I will address the concepts of social complexification and civilizational process drawing on the contributions of Postone and his concept of abstract time. In addition, I will elaborate on the implications of Postone’s and Elias’s proposals on the forms of temporal domination and subjectivity in contemporary societies, as well as potential discussions with the concepts of presentism and social acceleration.

Keywords : Social complexity; modern time; social domination; civilization process; abstract time.