Abstract

This article re-examines the question of the duration of work over the long term, using multiple case studies to identify, in their diversity, the daily duration of work, the annual calendar of days actually worked, and the content of labour. This leads us to question the agreed-upon pattern of a three-stage evolution: a) an unmeasured, task-oriented working time before intensive industrialisation; b) a sharp increase linked to the first industrialisation; and c) a continuous decrease from the mid-19th century to the present day. If we look at the scale of individuals and the tasks to be performed, we see that the length of the working day has been the subject of many conflicts since the Middle Ages, and can already have amplitudes that are not exceeded during industrialisation. The number of days worked in a year is extremely varied, so much so that it is illusory to try to establish averages. Moreover, if, after the 1840s, a relative and uneven decline took place, it was almost always paired with an intensification of the productive effort, which frequently made the work itself more arduous.