Time forms such an important part of our lives that it is rarely thought about. This text moves beyond the time of clocks and calendars in order to study time as embedded in social interactions, structures, practices and knowledge, in artefacts, in the body, and in the environment. The author looks at the many different ways in which time is experienced, in relation to the various contexts and institutions of social life. Among the topics discussed are time in the areas of health, education, work, globalization and environmental change. Through focusing on the complexities of social time it explores ways of keeping together what social science traditions have taken apart, namely, time with reference to the personal-public, local-global and natural-cultural dimensions of social life. Barbara Adam's time-based approach engages with, yet differs from postmodernist writings. It suggests ways not merely to deconstruct but to reconstruct both common-sense and social science understanding. This book should be of interest to 2nd-year undergraduates and above working in the areas of sociology, social theory and cultural theory.