Part 1 of this book considered three interconnected and overlapping areas: the temporal assumptions that frame mainstream political theory, the nature and significance of different time cultures, and the ways in which time is used and controlled in capitalist societies. Part 2 explored feminist theory at a general level to consider how this might reframe mainstream approaches. This third part draws these approaches together to focus directly on time in recent feminist political theory and practice, and the ways that this can inform policy debates in Western welfare states.

Later discussion of whether women have a distinctive ‘time culture’ (Chapter Eight), how women use their time and whether this can be captured in time-use studies (Chapter Nine) and the policy options available to feminists in contemporary welfare states (Chapter Ten) are informed by this current chapter, which explores a range of feminist assumptions and debates around time and temporality. After an initial brief overview of the ways in which these have been treated in recent feminist thought and a discussion of feminist utopias, it returns to the themes of Chapter One to locate feminist temporal ideas in time and to consider the significance of history for feminist thought. The final section revisits the temporal ideas of Marx, Pierson and Giddens, which were also discussed in Chapter One. It finds that, despite their androcentric assumptions, these can fruitfully be developed to contribute to the exploration of gender issues, and it seeks to modify Marxist theory by introducing the concept of ‘(re)production’.

As this chapter shows, feminists disagree over the relative importance of the past, present and future and the interpretation of history. Nevertheless, the chapter is able to draw on a wide range of ideas in support of the idea that times are multiple, interconnected and linked to power, and that feminist politics needs to be based in the awareness that past, present and future do not stand apart. In line with arguments about transcending dichotomy identified in Part 2, this means that we are neither entirely free agents nor the passive victims of circumstances, and that any plans for the future should attempt to think beyond what currently exists while recognising both the constraints inherited from the past and new options that are constantly opening up in a neverstatic present.