Abstract
This chapter examines temporal dimensions of consumption and leisure in socialism and postsocialism, challenging stereotypical views of socialist temporality as static, slow, and backward as well as the dichotomy between time controlled by the state and time manipulated by people. It also challenges the notion of an all-encompassing post-1989 acceleration using theories of time that move beyond fast/slow polarizations. For this, I focus on the meaning of time within practices of consumption, shopping, and gift giving, by analyzing time as a resource for consumption and duration as a concept through which people relate to consumer goods. I also discuss the mutual relation between time and leisure, as well as the role of temporal factors in the transformation of the domestic sphere. I conclude with observations about the changing role of objects, from actors in social time to actors in personal time. This change in material culture corresponds to an emphasis on individualization and a stronger separation between private and public spheres.
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Notes
- 1.
The Oak (Pintilie et al., 1992).
- 2.
The authors reference several definitions of special time: market by extraordinary practices (Durkheim, 1995 [1912]; Gronow & Warde, 2001; Kozinets, 2001); slow (Petrini, 2003), defined by warmth (Ger, 2005) and a healing power (Belk et al., 1989); or by leisure, pleasure, and contemplation (Petrini, 2003; Stevens et al., 2003). Ordinary time is defined as taken for granted and often almost not noticed (Güliz & Kravetz, 2009, p. 190).
- 3.
For example, the state presented the party as infallible by claiming that all its predictions and prognoses came true (Bradatan, 2005, p. 273).
- 4.
For example, traffic jams as unintended blockage and going to work retreats as a slowdown (Rosa, 2013, p. 303).
- 5.
I refer to a few examples of movies made after 1989 that show some practices and discourses related to time. However, I did not conduct a systematic analysis of movies since this book is based mostly on ethnographic research. The references to movies are only used for illustrative purposes.
- 6.
Verdery (1996) discussed how, during socialism, time was seized from the people by the state through the practice of waiting in line for consumer goods. This was not done with the overt intention of subjugating people and increasing power, but rather with the purpose of paying the foreign debt by rationing food, electricity, water, and gas—see Chap. 2, “The ‘Etatization’ of Time in Ceausescu’s Romania.”
- 7.
- 8.
“The Legend of the Greedy Policeman,” from the movie Amintiri din Epoca de Aur (Tales from the Golden Age) (Caucheteux et al., 2009): the story of a policeman who tries to secretly slaughter a pig in his apartment because he does not want to share it with his neighbors.
- 9.
- 10.
“The Legend of the Official Visit” (Caucheteux et al., 2009).
- 11.
Tales from the Golden Age.
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Cristache, M. (2021). Temporal Dimensions of Consumption and Leisure: Rhythms, Changes, and Continuities. In: Domesticity on Display. Consumption and Public Life. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-78783-7_5
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