Spatio-temporal Notions and Organized Environmental Issues: An Axiology of Action

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to bring together temporal and spatial notions into a different set of axiologic pairs, and to trace examples in which such a set of pairs might be illuminating in accounts of how environmental issues are perceived in various social science disciplines. The paper begins with a division of time into reified clock time (chronos) and timely kairos time, together with a spatial division between abstract space (chora) and concrete place (topos). To better comprehend these originally Greek spatial and temporal notions, some Aristotelian concepts of human action will also be used (i.e. theoria/episteme, poiesis/ techne and praxis/phronesis). These extended notions of human action, time and space/place are discussed in conjunction with aesthetics, ethics and environmental issues in the different organizational settings of science, mass media, business management and environmentalism. Setting the StageThe contemporary, 24-hour, all-year-round, non-stop global world of justin-time trading and finance is constantly focusing on cutting time and reducing strenuous physical distance. The increase in international trade and swift financial markets has also encouraged extensive debate regarding its potential impact on environmental matters. The particular focus in this paper will be on the concepts of time, space and human action in conjunction with environmental issues in the different organizational Volume 11(6): 849-872 articles at SIMON FRASER LIBRARY on June 12, 2015 org.sagepub.com Downloaded fromsettings of science, mass media, business management and environmentalism. This paper is also based on an undertaking to (re-)introduce some ancient Greek notions on different forms of action, time, space and place into the contemporary debate on spatio-temporal aspects of organizations.Nowadays, a great deal of attention is being paid to the notion of time and temporality. Yet, temporal aspects in organization studies are still somewhat neglected, especially the qualitative analysis of organizational time. 1 Almost without exception, the attention to the limitations of treating organizational time as exclusively quantitative and homogenous (i.e. clock time) still relies upon an understanding of time as chronological time, depicted as linear, circular or spiral. It is argued in this paper that the analysis of time in social settings remains crippled if there is a partisan focus on chronological time alone, regardless of whether it is depicted as clock, linear, circular or spiral time.Just as the reified clock time has reached an omnipresent and omnipotent status over human time consciousness, abstract geometric space has likewise become the key to understanding extension at the expense of concrete and meaningful place. Much attention to the spatial aspects of organizations still relies upon an understanding of space/place as 'abstract' geometrical extension, although some studies have also been dealing with different aspects of space and place in organizational settings. 2 This paper is concerned with su...

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“…and constitutes an immanent concern in the practical reasoning of human professionals including social workers. Rämö (1999Rämö ( , 2001Rämö ( , 2002Rämö ( , 2004 and Smith (1969Smith ( , 1986 shed further light on chronos and kairos. Smith (1969) asserts that kairos presupposes chronos, but gives quality to a particular point of time (p. 2).…”

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