Trabalho, sofrimento e reconhecimento: a primazia do outro

Abstract

The centrality of work in relation to identity and mental health formation is a thesis made by Dejours. The generation of suffering depends entirely on the kind of work we do, which is responsible for aggravating or changing this situation. According to the author, working necessarily implies having an unpleasant emotional experience, since it goes from reality - the real - and is always resistant to technique, knowledge and symbolization. Suffering at work may or may not be linked to suffering coming out of the private or family sphere. When there is a link and the employment situation allows for sublimation – as a socially valued activity – it is possible to give work and suffering authentic meaning, transforming it into a pleasing and structuring experience. On the other hand, when the work organization is strict, not allowing for free space to change the task, and there is no recognition dynamics, it can lead the subject to suffering from psychic and somatic decompensation. It is important to highlight that the emotional distress, as the result of the encounter with the real, is not only a passive state of mind, but lies at the origin of the intelligence that sets out in search of the world in order to challenge, transform, and increase itself. This study aims at presenting how suffering generated by the way workers deal with ‘the real’ in a work environment can be subverted through peer recognition, making it possible to transpose it, for identity record. We emphasize that this process is not limited to the relationship between the ego and the real, but it necessarily includes the "appreciation of your peers" the ssessment by the utility and the aesthetic judgments that focus on doing and not only on the person. Our proposal relies on the Psychodynamic Theory of Work which is on the borders of psychoanalysis and social sciences according to Dejours.