Abstract: This paper presents a theoretical study in Psychology on the subject of time in contemporary capitalist societies and in a hypothetical degrowth society. Considering that the contemporary lifestyle and the acceleration of time (and the lack of time itself) have led to dissatisfactions and even to diseases, this study question what changes in the structure of social time could possibly result from a shift of model of society as Degrowth proposes. The core hypothesis of this work is that it is not possible to speak of free time in capitalism, since the imperative of economic growth causes the logic of production to spread through every sphere of the individuals’ life, including the so-called 'free' time. On the other hand, as Degrowth supports a model of society where the main values are not those of economy, but human values, it may be imagined that in such society individuals could actually experience free time, and also that the (re)emergence of idleness would be viable.
Keywords: Free time; Degrowth; Idleness; good life