‘I Wish I Could Work in my Spare Time’: Simondon and the Individuation of Work–Life Balance

Work–life balance has become an important topic for both mainstream and critical scholars. We will provide here an empirical analysis of work–life balance from the theoretical perspective of Gilbert Simondon. In such a perspective, individuals’ efforts to balance work with life should be viewed as part of an individuation process, neither reducible to the sphere of work nor of life. Qualitative data gathered at a global biotech firm has demonstrated how problems related to work–life balance, such as working while ill and working from home, illustrate ways employees become individuated. The article ends by discussing the contribution and relevance of Simondon’s thinking to current theories of work–life balance in relation to research methodology and ethics.