Technological Revolutions and the Political Economy of Time

Abstract

The paper investigates the role of time as one of the most precious politico-economic resources. It shows that the compression of time during every successive industrial revolution brings contradictions that change the logic of the politico-economic system. To prove this thesis historical and political-economic approaches are used. The historical approach shows the correlation between the development of technologies, time and society. The politico-economic approach emphasizes on the different dimensions of this change, trying to answer the question about the transformation of the role of time in contemporary economy and politics. One of the main contributions is that time is correlated with the different technological revolutions. Thus, I first examine the correlation between time and technological changes during different technological stages. Then the exponential character of the technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution is shown, as well as the transformation they bring to politics, economics, society, science, human beings and so on. I finish with the necessary transformation of the state as a result of the technological revolutions and particularly as a result of the ongoing Fourth Industrial Revolution, and in the conclusion I provide some possible answers to the contradictions brought about by exponential technological changes.