The neo-peasantry as a quest for temporal ecology. An analysis of the relationship to work within the collective

Abstract

Studying self-managed neo-peasant collectives according to the paradigm of multiple temporalities allows us to grasp the complexity of their relationship to work. The notion of “temporal ecology,” which states the juxtaposition, coordination, and relations of domination between different temporalities (biographical, ideological, social, and natural) makes this possible. The first part of this article reports on the construction of the hegemony of social temporality linked to the wage relationship in a capitalist context. I argue in this article that this is precisely what the people I met try to mobilize against daily. They effectively put at the heart of their initiative the fact of living according to “chosen times.” I will thus describe, in a second part, which arguments they mobilize in this social critique and how this influences their installation project. Their organization of the daily work has yet limits and that is what I will argue in the third part: how their wishes for emancipation at work are confronted with the requirements of flexibility and availability that demand both the neo-peasant lifestyle and self-managing. The “work value” thus remains, despite the work of deconstruction that is developed.