Abstract
The English translation of Hartmut Rosa's book Beschleunigung: Die Veränderung de Zeitstrukturen in der Moderne (2005a) accounts for a long-awaited investigation of the causes, manifestations and consequences of acceleration: a frequently pronounced attribute of modernity; often, however, approached in a popular and impressionistic-rather than scholarly and social scientific-fashion. Even though many readers might, and probably will, intuitively consider the study to be yet another prophetic and epochalist account on a fashionable theme; after a careful reading of the introduction and first few pages they will be surprised to discover that the very opposite of their initial assumption is true.
With Rosa's inquiry at the forefront, we are perhaps approaching a stage where the prevalent acceleration "zeitgeistology"-mostly associated with enigmatic yet oftentimes unintelligible work of Paul Virilio-in the social sciences will finally be surmounted.