Episode 6: Rhythms of the City and Environmental Transitions

Michel and Keri talk about the reorganisation of everyday rhythms of the city with urban scholar Zarina Patel and legal scholar Bronwen Morgan, touching on their work in Cape Town and Sydney. 

Hosts and Guests

• Michel Alhadeff-Jones (Executive Director, Sunkhronos Institute, Switzerland)
• Keri Facer (Professor of Educational and Social Futures, University of Bristol, UK)
• Bronwen Morgan (Professor of Law, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia)
• Zarina Patel (Associate Professor of Human Geography and Deputy Dean for Research, Faculty of Science, University of Cape Town) 

Summary

In this episode, Michel and Keri explore, with their guests, Bronwen Morgan and Zarina Patel, how daily rhythms – such as those involved in mobility – express and determine how people experience space and time in the city. At the scale of the everyday, envisioning social and environmental transitions implies to renegotiate how such rhythms relate to each other. It questions which rhythms should be privileged and which ones are marginalized. Because the reorganization of everyday rhythms involves actors with different institutions and agendas (e.g., policy makers, private sectors, citizens), challenging everyday rhythms also raises critical questions about who has the power to influence the pace and tempo that organize and transform cities, and how power dynamics expressed through conflicting rhythms may be negotiated.

References & Resources Mentioned

•  Mbiti, J.S.1969 article African Religions and Philosophy
• E. Glen Weyl & Audrey Tang’s book ‘Plurality: The Future of Collaborative Technology and Democracy’: https://www.plurality.net/chapters/

External Links

• The Times of a Just Transition - Global Convening Programme: https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/projects/the-times-of-a-just-transition/
• Sunkhronos Institute: https://www.sunkhronos.org/
• The Temporal Imagination: https://www.temporalimagination.org

The Temporal Imagination Podcast is supported by

• British Academy “The Times of a Just Transition” Global Convening Programme
• Sunkhronos Institute
• The School of Education, University of Bristol
• The Sarchi Chair in Global Change and Social Learning, Rhodes University

Credits

• Hosts: Michel Alhadeff-Jones & Keri Facer
• Audio/video editing: Sarah Van Borek, Michel Alhadeff-Jones, Keri Facer
• Artwork: Harriet Hand
• Music: Briony Greenhill, “Die Every Day” 
• Recorded and edited with Riverside.fm and Adobe Premiere

To watch the video recording of this podcast (which includes closed captions), go to: https://www.youtube.com/@institutsunkhronos/podcasts