High-Speed Society

This is an intriguing collection of texts centering on a theme about which social science has had little, and certainly little that is systematic and cumulative, to say. The editors idea is to try to capture the thought, ever more widespread since the eighteenth century, that more and more aspects of our livestechnological, economic, public and political, private and intimateare speeding up. To what extent is this true? If true, what are its consequences, for instance, for the quality of individual lives and for the functioning of democratic politics, and for the condition of those marginalized by and excluded from this allegedly accelerating dynamism of modernity? It is an excellently edited collection of interesting essays on an important subject. Steven Lukes,New York University Hartmut Rosa and William Scheuerman have fathered a first-rate set of contributions and produced an excellent collection on an unusual yet deeply important topic. I know of no other book quite like it. Stephen Eric Bronner,Rutgers University Ever since Paul Virilio coined the term dromology (the study of speed) in 1977, searching for the meaning of ever speedier change has become a progressively more respectable path of scholarship. This anthology of writings dedicated solely to this topic is the first of its kind, and as such has great value, especially for readers who are unfamiliar with the major thinkers to have considered societal celerity seriously. . . . It could serve as a uniquely stimulating text for advanced theory students in the social sciences and humanities. Contemporary Sociology Scheuermans concluding essay thoughtfully assays the problematic effects of social acceleration on civic engagement. Colloquy

Hartmut Rosa is Professor of Sociology at the University of Jena and Affiliated Professor of Sociology at the New School University. William E. Scheuerman is Professor of Political Science and Western European Studies at Indiana University.

Contents List of Illustrations Acknowledgments Introduction Hartmut Rosa and William E. Scheuerman Part 1. Classical Perspectives on Social Acceleration 1. A Law of Acceleration Henry Adams 2. The Pace of Life and the Money Economy Georg Simmel 3. The New Religion-Morality of Speed Filippo Tommaso Marinetti 4. The Mania for Motion and Speed John Dewey 5. The Motorized Legislator Carl Schmitt Part 2. High-Speed Society: Theoretical Foundations 6. Social Acceleration: Ethical and Political Consequences of a Desychronized High-Speed Society Hartmut Rosa 7. Is There an Acceleration of History? Reinhart Koselleck 8. The Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Globalizing Capital and Their Impact on State Power and Democracy Bob Jessop 9. The Contraction of the Present Hermann Lbbe 10. Speeding Up and Slowing Down John Urry Part 3. High-Speed Society: Political Consequences? 11. The State of Emergency Paul Virilio 12. The Nihilism of Speed: On the Work of Paul Virilio Stefan Breuer 13. Temporal Rhythms and Military Force: Acceleration, Deceleration, and War Herfried Mnkler 14. Speed, Concentric Circles, and Cosmopolitanism William E. Connolly 15. Citizenship and Speed William E. Scheuerman List of Contributors Index