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Time-space Compression




Time-space compression often refers to technologies that seem to accelerate or elide spatial and temporal distances, including technologies of communication ( to describe "speed-space." The present moment, which some would characterize as Postmodern , presents one example of an historical period marked by time-space compression.

Theorists generally identify two historical periods in which time-space compression occurred: the period from the mid-nineteenth century to the beginnings of the First World War, and the end of the twentieth century. In both of these time periods, according to Jon May and Nigel Thrift, “there occurred a radical restructuring in the nature and experience of both time and space . . . both periods saw a significant acceleration in the pace of life concomitant with a dissolution or collapse of traditional spatial co-ordinates” (7).

REFERENCES

  • Decron, Chris. ''Speed-Space.'' Virilio Live. Ed. John Armitage. London: Sage, 2001. 69-81.

  • Harvey, David. ''The Condition of Postmodernity: An Enquiry into the Origins of Cultural Change''. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell, 1990.

  • May, Jon and Nigel Thrift. "Introduction." TimeSpace: Geographies of Temporality. NY: Routledge, 2001. p. 1-46.