Certain Western habits or ways of being are connected to the advent of industrialization.

According to Dr. Baiju Vareed, who recently sat down to talk with Research Recast(ed) podcast host Kelsie Johnston, some of those ways of being – like punctuality – might be taken completely for granted. 

“Punctuality is a privilege,” says Dr. Vareed, associate professor and chair of the Department of Social Work. “The punctuality that Euro-American people enjoy is a result of generations of living through everyday life that was very punctual.” 

That isn’t the case in other parts of the world, for example in agrarian societies. 

“People go to the fields not at 6 a.m., but when it is dawn,” he says. “The concept of time is determined by seasons, weather, cultivation, farming and harvesting.”

Dr. Vareed explains that people in Europe and America have had the “privilege” of living in industrialized cultures for several generations, where punctuality has evolved as a cultural norm rather than as a trait earned by individuals.

And while he says this not an excuse for lateness, its importance cannot be ignored. That’s why his research looks at understanding and considering different lived experiences and life approaches. 

“It helps us to be empathetic, mutually accepting and respectful,” he says. “Many of the actions people do are not intentional. Though it may bother or disturb other people, there is a reason behind it. It is not just one person – there is historical context.” 

Dr. Vareed’s next research project, which is also rooted in critical approaches to social work, will look at the experiences of immigrants who change their names and how changing or modifying their name to match dominant names in a different country or culture affects their identity. 

To learn more about Dr. Vareed’s research and how social work as a profession is also a product of industrialization, listen to the full episode. 

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