ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some concluding thoughts on the key concepts discussed in the preceding chapters of this book. The book explores many facets of relationship with time, from cosmological time to working time, nature's time to time politics. It explains how an essential part of the success of time banks has been to undermine accepted notions of whose time is valuable. Western, consumerist society has a very clear narrative about what is a valuable way to spend time; which activities are meaningful and which aren't; and whose time is valuable and whose can be wasted without a second thought. The book explains how Christianity, then colonialism and now globalisation have sought to impose these values on other cultures, removing the freedom of indigenous peoples to live according to their own rhythm and values. The apparent lack of freedom to choose identified by many of the contributors seems paradoxical in a liberal democracy that cherishes the principle of individual liberty.
