ABSTRACT
Before we will turn to look at the concrete ways in which class relationships shape the manner in which social agents use, perceive and invest in their bodies, there is one more thread that needs to be stitched into the theoretical argument. The core of this chapter hinges on a simple proposition, namely that the relationship to the body is inextricably bound up with that other fundamental dimension of social existence, namely the relationship to time. I will argue that differences in the manner in which social agents relate to their bodies can only become fully intelligible, when they are re-inserted in the temporal horizon that characterizes their particular class and which defines the ‘purposes and expectations’ towards the future, that Mannheim saw as particularly indicative of the mentality of a social class. By bringing out the implicit temporal dimension of bodily practice, this chapter will aim to show that what is at stake in both the everyday disputes over the “correct” manner of treating and presenting one’s body, as well as in the semi-official struggles over the definition of “legitimate” physical care, is often an entire way of relating to time in general and to the future in particular. This implies that an adequate sociological understanding of the body, of its social uses and socially produced properties cannot dispense with a sociology of time and temporal dispositions.
