The time space compression is a term that refers to shrinkage in temporality through the advancement of technology making places seem closer and more accessible than before. The geographic imagination of time and space has entered into an era where transportation and communication have highly advanced the ability to receive information, and goods which has led to elevation in commodity production and has creates new avenues for primitive accumulation. The term was coined by Marxist scholar David Harvey in his work The Condition of Postmodernity where he recognizes the acceleration of economic activity destroys barriers and distances making this phenomenon the driving force behind globalisation. In a post-Fordist capitalist economy flexible production is what drives value, meaning wherever the most goods for the cheapest price can be produced is where corporations will make their investment and products. This occurrence mirrors the faster more disposable consumption market where frequent on credit purchases dominate which makes the global economy contract into the here and now.
I chose this term as it encapsulates the fundamental shift that has taken place in the programming of the transnational subject. By changing one’s conception of time, and how long it takes to receive a message or order a commodity it is fundamentally changing the shape in which we view the world. No longer do we appreciate the labour involved in creation. What is significant now is when can I get it and how long until I can achieve pleasure from my immediate desire. By stimulating meaning through objects or rapid experience we are becoming plugged into a user system where the game attracts respect only to deliverance. Think about how when you send a text message it is almost habitual, in the twenty first century that a reply should be received between two to thirty minutes. This stimuli response network has been manufactured to alienate humanity from the natural world and transposes their psyche into the digital cloud of colonial techno-reality. The time space compression has made us more connected than ever before and makes the friction stronger as distances begin to disintegrate.
Source: http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780199874002/obo-9780199874002-0025.xml Author: Anne Goodfellow
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