A Bodily Normativity for Neoliberal Work: A Social Philosophy Approach
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21814/eps.8.2.6625Keywords:
labor domination, bodily domination, platform capitalism, psychodynamics of work, workplace violenceAbstract
Labor and the workplace have undergone profound transformations over recent decades. This paper discusses normative demands stemming from the social suffering inherent to neoliberal workplaces worldwide, while also addressing ideological resistance against institutional responses to labor abuses and domination. First, we explore the elusive nature of the stressed and exploited body at work, through a dialogue with the psychodynamic approach of Dejours a Bourdieu-inspired account of bodily domination by Moreno Pestaña and Herzog’s case for economic democracy. Second, the paper addresses new forms of labor, such as the platform and gig economy, and
the behavioral dynamics characteristic of them. It also considers social differences and inequalities as decisive factors in the concrete effects of this transformation, as well as the impact of technological design. Finally, it addresses how current forms of work organization exhibit a concretely corporeal dimension that affects the mental and physical health of workers in the form of injury, disease, exhaustion, stress, and deskilling, among others. It concludes by positing a normative response to neoliberal labor domination, at both a legal and political level.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Pablo López Álvarez, Nurua Sánchez Madrid, Clara Navarro Ruiz
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