Another Conception of Time

The theme of the direction of time will bring together Michel Maffesoli, Jawad Meijad (Cap Gemini) and physics engineer Etienne Klein from the Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique (Atomic Energy Commission), notably known for his work Le Facteur temps ne sonne jamais deux fois ["time never rings twice"]. Casting new light on the question of the direction of time, physics and sociology will address the reversibility of time. The debate will thus oppose Newtonian physics, whose conception of time is linear, an arrow irremediably moving from the past to the future; and particle physics, which raises the issue of negative time and its reversibility. Classical sociology and modern sociology also approach time in very contrasted ways. While classical sociology borrows its values from modernity (the prevalence of the course of history, the forward march towards a bright future), current society lives to another rhythm, marked by an attachment to the past and an emphasis on the archaic, the land, and countless commemorations.