Temporal Hegemony and
the End of Times
(Or Should the Harlequin Repent?)
Allen C. Bluedorn
University of Missouri-Columbia
June 9, 2006
The Temporal Commons
The shared conceptualization of time and the set
of resultant values, beliefs, and behaviors
regarding time, as created and applied by
members of a culture-carrying collectivity,
constitute a temporal commons.
--Bluedorn and Waller (in press)
What Would a World with a
Temporal Hegemony Look Like?
“Repent, Harlequin!” Said the Ticktockman
Harlan Ellison
1965
The Master Timekeeper (a.k.a., The
Ticktockman)
The Harlequin
The Decree of Statute 555-5SGH-999
EFFECTIVE 15 JULY 2389 12:00:00 midnight,
the office of the Master Timekeeper will require
all citizens to submit their time-cards and
cardioplates for processing. In accordance with
Statute 555-5-SGH-999 governing revocation of
time per capita, all cardioplates will be keyed to
the individual holder and—
As reported in Harlan Ellison’s story,
“Repent, Harlequin! Said the Ticktockman
Forces Promoting Hegemony
Chronocentrism
Institutionalization
Tight System Coupling
How to Study
Use existing benchmark data
Punctuality (Levine and colleagues)
Temporal Focus (GLOBE)
Temporal Depth/Time Horizons (Bluedorn & Ferris, 2004;
Bluedorn and Richtereyer, in press)
Archival Data
For example: Use the length of mortgages in a society
as an indicator of the length of future temporal
depth/time horizons.
How Worried Should We Be?
The work of Peter Clark (1978; 1985)
The end of the story