Till We Meet Again: Towards an Affective Sociology of Schedules

Drawing from studies of affect, this article explores how affect theory can inform how we theorise schedules. The notion of the schedule, of great interest to sociologists, has mostly been explored from a constructionist approach. The current article extends these readings, proposing the concepts of ‘scheduling in motion’ and ‘affective scheduling’, through which scheduling is explored as a relational and affective process. In doing so, it positions affective scheduling as a mode of inquiry that embraces the multiplicity and fragmentation of lived time. From this vantage point, I highlight how scheduling is felt, sensed and materialised in ways that bypass realms of demarcated temporal patterns. Important in this respect is the understanding that scheduling is a grouping together of heterogeneous elements, emerging in moments of encounters between bodies. This study is a first step to addressing the potential of affective scheduling in exploring everyday lived experiences, temporality and affection.