Re-thinking queue culture: the commodification of thick time

Abstract

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to highlight both the contribution and the present need to reconfigure the literature on "queue culture" as a precursor of the sociology of waiting. Design/methodology/approach -The study employs a legal-structural lens in comparing the initial conceptual treatment of the archetypal "waiting line" with the "line" modifying sociology of waiting that results in waiting rooms, number and telephone queues and in the experience of online waiting. Findings -The initial conception of the culture of the queue understates the importance of three factors: first, the role of third parties in the design, management and inculcation of rules binding those experiencing thick time; second the degree to which communication technology and its attachment to the "mobilities" paradigm has thinned the experience of thick time and lastly the degree to which the increasing commodification of the wait has resulted in the creation of waiting time as a form of pay as you go flexitime. Social implications -The social construction of waiting and the experience of thick time are shown to be increasingly part of the privatized market experience where queue management innovations not only are commercialized but have strong implications for the egalitarian social assumptions imbedded in the initial queue culture based sociology of waiting. Policy implications support the present pay for use philosophy increasingly applied in the transition from public to private management of space. Originality/value -The self-policing "fairness" of the waiting line is now open to scrutiny given the proliferation of the newly shaped distributional logics imbedded in the management, design and use of waiting spaces.

Lining up for charity

“…The findings highlight the importance of understanding the social context in which everyday activities and interaction take place as well as the spatial and temporal dimensions of social settings and the ways in which space and time are managed by those who organize the situation. Theories of queue culture, which emphasize the role of the internal organization of queue systems (Mann, 1969;Ehn and Löngren, 2010), but also point out the importance of the organizers of the queues and their ways of managing time and space (Wexler, 2015), provided an instructive tool to explore the social organization in which the food recipients act.…”

“…Queuing is an intriguing way of doing nothing and at the same time an extremely social activity (Ehn and Löfgren, 2010, p. 53). Previous research on queue culture suggests that queues are social spaces that provide a rich approach to study social life (Mann, 1969; Schwartz, 1975; Ehn and Löfgren, 2010; Lipsky, 2010; Wexler, 2015). Queues are potential sites for social interaction, shared experiences and collective emotions, which can in turn contribute to feelings of community between the participants of a queue.…”

“…By controlling the admission to a good or service, queues define the concrete and symbolic boundaries of the queue community. Social policy practices involve several sites and types of queueing, for example, waiting rooms, waiting lists and telephone queues, in environments such as employment services and social offices (Lipsky, 2010; Wexler, 2015). What they share in common is that they often impose costs on the participants, whose ability to choose the service provider or voice their views on the process is limited (Hirschman, 1970; Lipsky, 2010, p. 95).…”

Istraživanje utjecaja čekanja studenata na percipiranu kvalitetu usluge na primjeru studentske referade

“…Smanjivanje stvarnog vremena ekanja vodi ve em zadovoljstvu uslugom (Davis i Heineke, 1994.). Kada klijenti imaju malo vremena za uslužni sustav, tada im se ini da vrijeme te e jako sporo, jer repovi ekanja u tom slu aju usporavaju vrijeme (Wexler, 2015. ).…”

Urban Civility: Train Commuters' Queueing Behaviour in Jakarta

“…Societies, which facilitate the development of queues show respect and civility (Boyd, 2006;In Wexler, 2015) for those adhering to the group norms. The social system of the queue involves repressing the "me-first" ego of the individual and calling upon the leaderless queue to maintain order (Helweg-Larsen and LoMonaco, 2008;In Wexler 2015). Sociology of the waiting line highlights the civility of an emergent form of orderliness.…”