The Public Clock: Temporal Ordering and Policy

This paper proposes a model for thinking about public policy that is holistic and inclusive. Using a ‘temporal lens’ it is argued that much that is taken for granted about modernity and progress is rooted in temporal structures that privilege certain social processes and interest groups. For community to be engaged in deliberative policy that is relevant to local contexts and imbued with social foresight requires current temporal practices to be challenged and renegotiated in order to allow for flexible policy processes that speak to the needs and concerns of the public sphere.