Corsi di Studio del Dipartimento di Culture, Politica e Società

Since the seminal work of the Durkheimians about a sociology of time and calendars,
there have been many studies in sociology about how time is socially shaped and
experienced. We will first present the classic studies on time by E. Durkheim, H.
Hubert and N. Elias, who all develop an institutionalist program for time studies.
Time is a social institution, but also a matter of power, status and conflict. Hence,
we will also focus on the unequal relations to time, according to social and gender
positions, in particular in the professional and economic fields, but also during
specific periods such as crises (for example during the Covid-19 crisis). Then, at
the micro-level, we will tackle the question of the interactional and subjective
work to organize and customize time. How can we sociologically define something
as an “event” or a “turning point” at a macro and a micro level?

This course will provide students with an introduction to the Sociology of Time and Temporalities. 

Classes will be given in French (with slides and some references in English), in the form of lecture courses.

- Oral defence

- Written report

- Group project

Expected deadline(s)
for the evaluation(s):
End of the semester

Indicative list of the lectures (in French)
Sessions 1 and 2: General introduction: how to think about time?
Philosophy and sociology facing the challenges of temporalities
Session 3: Classical sociologists and the question of temporalities.
Durkheim, Hubert, Elias, time as an institution and as a
collective.
Session 4 : Bourdieu and time : sketch of a sociology of the relationship
to the future.
Pierre Bourdieu, 1963. "Traditional society; attitude to time and economic
time and economic conduct", Sociology of work, 1, pp.24-44.
Session 5 : " Tomorrow is far " : the relationship to the future in banking
interactions.
Xavier Roux, " Temporalités marchées et rapport à l'avenir dans les
interactions ", Temporalités [En ligne], 10, 2009, put online
on 01 March 2010, URL, http://temporalites.revues.org/index1101.html
Session 6 : The notion of "temporal work".
Michael G. Flaherty, 2003. "Time Work: Customizing Temporal
Experience", Social Psychology Quarterly, 66, 1, pp.17-33.
Session 7 : Time and the organization of work.
Gary Alan Fine, 1990. "Organizational Time: Temporal Demands and the
Experience of Work in Restaurant Kitchens," Social Forces, 69, 1, pp.95-
114.
Session 8 : Temporalities of Interaction
Steven E. Clayman, 1989. "The Production of Punctuality: Social
Interaction, Temporal Organization, and Social Structure," American
Journal of Sociology, 95, 3, pp. 659-691.
Session 9: Life Course and Biographical Bifurcations
Andrew Abbott, 2009. "About the concept of Turning Point", in
Grossetti Michel et al, Bifurcations. Les sciences sociales face aux
ruptures et à l'événement, Paris, La Découverte, pp.187-211.
Sessions 10, 11, 12: student presentations