Rural Temporal Practices

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Abstract
This article argues that, in contrast to common expectations about traditional societies, social practices in the rural West of Ireland cluster round a `communal time' oriented to the future, not the past. The article distinguishes between several `time-complexes' and `time-regimes' observed here; the significance of the future-orientation of the traditional regime is underlined by its connections with an implicit philosophical anthropology. Here, decisions and intentions have distinct tempos, structures and implications for interaction, contributing to an indigenous social order which both contrasts with and casts light on those in `core' European cultures.