Les temps sexués de l’activité : la temporalité au principe du genre ?

We introduce this issue on the gendered times of work, broadly understood – i.e. paid or unpaid, and more or less visible – which, in conjunction with the other spheres of life, mirror the intricate interplay of Gender and Temporality. Two positions are highlighted. The more classical one is a Sociographics of the gendered division of labour in which time serves to measure existing inequalities. Complementary to it is a second posture that questions temporal categories: the confrontation shows that temporality is at the origin of gender. In this view, time, apprehended in its diversity and particularly in its qualitative dimensions, is the result of practices seen as producing power relations. Male domination rests on the construction of the relationship to time: naturalizing so-called feminine skills depends on temporalities based on how a person relates to the Other and long-term commitments. Theoretical perspectives concerning care and social presence show up the moral implications of altruistic commitment in its temporal dimensions (ability to anticipate, being available for others, long-term involvement, temporalization). The authors go on to expose how each of the papers participate in the discussion.