Comparing the Worth of the While in Fiji and Finland

’Clock time’, which denotes particular ways of valuing temporal duration, is typically associated with monetary worth or labour. From this follows so-called thrifty attitudes towards the passing of time, which is construed as a resource that can be ’wasted’ or ’saved’.

Comparing the Worth of the While in Fiji and Finland, however, presents comparative case studies of clock time in Fiji and Finland to reconsider the other values that it is capable of expressing, beyond monetary worth. By comparing two such dissimilar case studies - and drawing on examples as diverse as the Fijian hospitality industry and peripheral waiting and Finnish academic time management - Eräsaari foregrounds time’s capacity to act as a sign and measure of other values. By employing a unique anthropological and ethnographic methodology, he reveals the many ways in which clock time is deployed in value projects, as well as the complex conceptual work required to make it a vehicle of valuation.

Matti Eräsaari, Researcher, University of Helsinki

Matti Eräsaari is a socio-cultural anthropologist working at the University of Helsinki, Finland. His research interests range from food, funerals, and gifting, to time wasting and taxes. His current work deals with value quantification in Fiji, where Eräsaari has conducted the majority of his research. His previous publications include We Are the Originals: A Study of Value in Fiji (University of Helsinki, 2013) and Food Culture (Finnish Literature Society, 2016) co-edited with Katja Uusihakala.