Distant time and the spatio-temporalities of statecraft

The value in Ayona Datta's notion of distant time is that the spatialisation of temporal power and its resistance is made explicit. As she demonstrates, the temporal tactics and techniques of statecraft are expressed in the landscape; in the case of Shimla, literally contoured onto the hillside, reproducing spatio-temporal divides. In this commentary, I tease out the contoured temporal relations of the smart and subaltern city and argue that Datta's notion of distant time be extended by creating a typology of the temporal techniques and mechanisms of statecraft and resistance, considering further the temporalities of politics and policies of statecraft, and charting further the multi-scalar nature of statecraft temporalities.