This open access book draws on conceptual resources ranging from medieval scholasticism to postmodern theory to propose a new understanding of secular time and its mediation in nineteenth-century technological networks. Untethering the concept of secularity from questions of ‘religion’ and ‘belief’, it offers an innovative rethinking of the history of secularisation that will appeal to students, scholars, and everyone interested in secularity, Victorian culture, the history of technology, and the temporalities of modernity.
Author(s): Stefan Fisher-Høyrem
Series: Histories of the Sacred and Secular, 1700–2000
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 239
City: Cham
Acknowledgements
Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction: Secularities, Technologies, and Modern Temporalities
Challenging Secularization
First Challenge: The Material Turn
Second Challenge: The Temporal Turn
Confusing Times
Rethinking Secularization
Overview of the Book
Bibliography
Chapter 2: Secular Time: Origin Story and Operationalization
Origins of the Saeculum
Immutable Mobiles
Victorian Networks
Bibliography
Chapter 3: Railways: Tracks, Trains, and Travellers
Moving Bodies
Local Time
Branching Out
Temporal Trauma
The Transport Machine
Tracks
Trains
Travellers
Temporal Coordination
Conclusion
Bibliography
Chapter 4: News: The Pursuit of Immediacy
Temporality and Form
A Printed Public Sphere
Emerging Publics
Environmental Resistance
Expanding Networks
Mobilization
Insulation
Printing
Journalism Skills
Conclusion
Bibliography
Chapter 5: Banknotes: The Money of Civilization
Performing the Economy
Gold Standard
The State
Policing the Standard
The Bank of England
A Network of Notes
A Combination of the Arts
As Good as Gold
Conclusion
Bibliography
Chapter 6: Conclusion: A New Approach to Secularization
Bibliography
Index
