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Law, Time, and Community

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 July 2024

David M. Engel
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Abstract

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Research concerning law and social change has almost always treated time as a universal constant and a baseline against which variations in behavior can be measured. Yet a significant literature exists demonstrating that researchers can also regard time as a socially constructed phenomenon requiring analytic interpretation in its own right. This article explores two aspects of the human experience of time that were especially important for the residents of a rural American community: the sense of time's iterative character and its linear or irreversible quality. These two ways of experiencing and conceptualizing time played a significant part in efforts by residents of Sander County, Illinois, to define their community and interpret the social, cultural, and economic transformations it was undergoing. They were also important in the residents' efforts to frame and define conflict within the community and to determine when law should or should not be invoked. The article examines some ways in which the analysis of varying conceptions of time within a community can enhance understanding of expectations, perceptions, and values concerning law in a changing society.

Type
Research Article
Information
Law & Society Review , Volume 21 , Issue 4 , 1987 , pp. 605 - 637
Copyright
Copyright © 1987 The Law and Society Association.

Footnotes

This article evolved during the early stages of a collaborative project with Carol J. Greenhouse and Barbara Yngvesson, and I am grateful for their advice and encouragement. For their helpful and insightful comments on earlier drafts of this article, I would also like to thank James Atleson, Fred Konfesky, Sally Merry, Frank Munger, John Henry Schlegel, and Robert Steinfeld. I am grateful to Linda Kosinski for her usual generosity and skill in typing the various drafts of this manuscript and to Carol Fitzsimmons for rechecking the interview transcriptions. Research for this article was sponsored by the National Science Foundation Grant No. SES-8511105.

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