How Past, Present and Future Are Constructed By Slow Livers? Using Qualitative Methods to Measure Temporal Practices and Values in France and Poland.

Nowadays, public debate, regarding effects of daily acceleration, difficulties with work – life balance and widespread time – pressure, takes place not only in Western societies, but also in developing countries like Poland. Due to the ongoing discussion, ideas such as Slow Life or Simply Living are getting more and more popular across different countries.

‘The Slow’ term seems to be misleading for many people. Contrary to popular belief, Slow Life doesn’t offer parallel temporality in isolation from the rest of the culture. It is not a simple slowness - this philosophy rather includes a set of values, which are implemented in everyday practices in order to live in more a conscious way. Taking into account the spread of Slow concept is worthwhile because it reveals evolution of time practices and temporal values. On the one hand, Slow is based on elements related to the past: return to the roots and closer relationships with local community. On the other hand, Slow Livers take up present struggle for the better future and improvement of quality of life. For this reason, we could ask about the type of linkage between past, present and future, created by individuals who decided to slow down in some realms. Moreover, we could wonder about personal ways to get these temporal dimensions together.

Answers to above questions will be provided by our empirical findings. The presented research projects, conducted in 2012– 2015, are proposals of using qualitative approach to explore and understand individuals’ time perception. The main objective of speech is to present how past experiences in personal stories could shape present lifestyles and plans as well as time orientations. By using qualitative tools, we would like to show in which way connection between past, present and future is constructed by Slow Livers in France and Poland.