Garfinkel’s Conception of Time

Abstract

Garfinkel articulates a significant conception of time - as situated and sequential - that works in tandem with his rendering of social order in terms of situated practices. However, because his treatment of the actor, action, group and time in situated terms differs significantly from more conventional theoretical approaches, critics have often mistakenly interpreted Garfinkel as focused on the individual, and indifferent to the significance of social structures, and their relations through time. What Garfinkel focuses on are practices, not individuals, and he argues that practices constitute the essential foundations of social structure. Given this view, the time dimension of practice is the significant time dimension for any study of communication and/or social order, which are both constituted in and through situations defined by mutual orientation toward practice.