Jean Viard

Biography

Jean Viard is a sociologist and Associate Director of Research at the CNRS, Centre de recherches politiques de Sciences Po (CEVIPOF). He holds a post-graduate diploma in economics (Aix-en-Provence) and a doctorate in sociology from the École des hautes études en sciences sociales, and specializes in social time (vacations, 35-hour week), space (planning, agricultural issues) and politics. A frequent lecturer and contributor to the press, he also works as a consultant to companies and local authorities. After working as a columnist for the Journal du dimanche and Polka magazine, and as one of the 2012 descriptors for Nouvel Obs-le plus, he is a regular contributor to Arte’s 28 minutes program and Le un newspaper. Author of numerous books, he recently published Quand la Méditerranée nous submerge, l’Aube, 2017 and Chronique française. De Mitterrand à Macron, l’Aube, 2018. His latest work, Une société si vivante, has also just been published by l’Aube.

Conference: Is time a fact of society?

We have entered a society of hyper-consumption of time: the supply of things to do is increasing faster than the amount of time available, which is also increasing rapidly. We can turn on thirty-six TVs, read countless books, fly everywhere, and the pressure of the Internet is constant…. But the reality is that we’ve never had so much time, not by a long shot. If I give time en masse, the average life expectancy in Europe today is 700,000 hours, compared with 500,000 hours before 1914, and an estimated 300,000 hours at the time of Christ. We’ve gained more than ten years in life expectancy since 1945, having already gained ten since the beginning of the 20th century. We therefore live 700,000 hours, sleep a little over 200,000 hours, work around 70,000 hours and study around 30,000 hours. As a result, after sleeping, studying and working, there are 400,000 hours left to do other things. This is the basis of our world, a civilization of long time and short work. The digital society connects empowered individuals and takes them in by bombarding them with messages, recreating a sense of urgency. We feel summoned to respond. This is where we need to take back our power.