Time and Efficacy: Neighborhoods, Temporal Constraints, and the Persistence of Poverty

Abstract

This dissertation examines the hidden ways in which individual poverty and neighborhood constraints intersect to deplete the most valuable of resources—time. Sociological theory from Durkheim to Bourdieu clearly articulates that while clock time may march on in relatively homogenous units, in reality time unfolds with varying speeds and rhythms for different people. That is, how people allocate, experience, and make judgments about time is a reflection of their social context, accumulated lived experiences and individual social location. Yet, even given this theoretical understanding, time remains critically understudied in research on inequality. Based on two years of fieldwork in Philadelphia and analyses of nationally representative time diary data, I demonstrate the manifold ways in which material deprivation creates constraints that make it challenging for people to convert time into activities that promote mobility and wellbeing. At the same time, I will argue that time is not just a resource that is unevenly distributed across groups; it is also an experience that is situated in place and space. I show that neighborhood conditions matter for exposing residents to temporal uncertainty and constant waiting, and ultimately contribute to the reproduction of poverty.