Here and Now

This paper explores the flexibility of time as a concept. In doing so it aims to expose how time within Neoliberalism functions hegemonically, existing in a temporal regime. Time is what surrounds us, goes through us, runs our everyday experiences. However, the current Western conception of time, based on Enlightenment philosophy, is a distancing one, its characteristics constituting the very nature of our current Neoliberal society. This paper, therefore, strives to explore how our progress-driven, rationality-based, linear conception of time is created through our daily practices at the same time that it structures them. Through this process, these practices become naturalized, taken as an objective reflection of the ideals
of “a-priori” capitalist systems whilst also functioning as a truth claim for these very systems. As such, this thesis explores alternative theories of time, in an effort to gain a new
understanding of our everyday practices, and how time can separate us. This study will connect alternative theories of the concept of time to the embodied experience of performance, using performance as a case study to demonstrate how against-the-grain thinking on time functions. Drawing parallels between the space of performance and time’s flexibility will allow a discussion of affect theory and the importance of interpersonal relations within space. This study, therefore, argues against linear, progress-driven conceptualisations of time and towards an experience that not only counters this capitalist mode of thinking but brings bodies closer.

Key Words: Temporal Regime, Neoliberalism, Embodiment, Performance, Collectivity

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