is a journalist with a master's degree in philosophy from the École Normale Supérieure in Lyon, France, where he also graduated from the Institute of Political Science. He regularly writes for Philonomist.
Picture: © DR
With all its public holidays, the month of May has become an opportunity to experiment with weeks of just four working days – a set-up that is increasingly attractive to workers, but also employers, some of whom would like to systematise it. But beyond its desirability or feasibility, the change also suggests that we might be able to secularise our professional lives.
The idea of working just four days a week instead of five is attracting more and more people – and what better than the month of May to get a feel for it, and see how it changes us? From the United Kingdom to Germany, as well as in France and Japan, it has been hypothesised – and sometimes put to the test – that such a measure could reduce mass unemployment, kick-start the green transition, and help employees find a better work-life balance. Whether it takes the form of a condensation of the same number of working hours over four days, or a reduced, 32-hour week (with or without a pay cut), the shift wouldn’t be without consequences on the way we perceive our social time.
‘Our weeks remain imbued with religious symbolism’
Sacred Sunday
In fact, our weeks remain imbued with religious symbolism. Like our calendar, which includes a number of bank holidays corresponding to Christian celebrations, our “weekends” testify to the persistence of a religious organisation in our Western societies: Sunday is the Lord’s Day for Christians; Saturday, that of shabbat for the Jews. Whether we’re being urged to work more, or less, the debate inevitably touches on the question of the sacredness of our weekly rest and the transformation of our traditional social time.
When the socialist Popular Front introduced paid leave in France in 1936, Léon Blum was accused
…Subscribe to Philonomist and gain free access to all our content and archives for 7 days. You'll also receive our weekly newsletter. No commitment. No bank details required.
You're already subscribed to Philonomist via your employer?
Connect to your account by filling in the following details (please provide your professional email address).
