Acknowledgements. Prologue. PART I What is Time?. Interlude: Time Is. 1 Time Stories. Gods of Time. In the Beginning. Paradise and the Fall.

Encounters with Death. Journeys to the Otherworld. Cycles of Renewal and Regeneration. Beyond Death: Resurrection and Redemption. Reflections: Myth for Today's Theory and Practice. Interlude: Representations of Time. 2 Time Theories I. Western Philosophy: From Ontology to Epistemology.

Natural Science: Clockwork Universe and Change. Enlightenment Theories: A Priori and Dialectic. Social Theory: Practice, Value and Category. Interlude: Time Perspectives. 3 Time Theories II. Western Philosophy: Time Within. The Sciences of System-Specific Times. Social Theory and the Past, Present and Future.

PART II What is the Role of Time in Social Life?. Interlude: Time Transcendence. 4 Cultural Practices of Time Transcendence. Making Time Stand Still. Knowing Fate, Forging Futures. Creating Immortality and Permanence. Modifying Nature's Times and Rhythms. Superimposing Phases and Social Structure.

Interlude: Body Time, Clock Time, Social Time. 5 In Pursuit of Time Know-how. Reckoning Time. Creating Clock Time. Mobilising World Time. Networking Instantaneity. Interlude: Time Complexities & Hierarchies. 6 The Quest for Time Control.

Commodification. Compressions. Colonization. Control. Interlude: Futures. Epilogue. Notes. Further Reading.

Bibliography. Index.