Work and subjectivity in the university: A multifaceted and global view of the processes of suffering and illness

Abstract

The objective of this article is to discuss the relations among the processes of intensification, extensification and job insecurity in the university with the suffering and/or illness of professors, tutors, students and technical-administrative staff. It presents interlocutions of researcher groups who discuss the relation between work and subjectivity. Initially, we highlighted the intensification of the professor work in the post-graduation years. Next, we pointed out the interweaving among the aforementioned processes and their relations with the multiple demands of undergraduate education and post-graduation. We identified insidious modes of suffering and illness. We argue for the necessity of increasing research on work within the university, in order to consider its multiple agents and its global and multifaceted dimensions, under the aegis of degradation, wear and lack of sense. We pointed to situations in which different forms of suffering unfolds in stress, anxiety disorders or depression. We concluded that such unfoldings could cause, especially on students, situations of psychache, dismay and hopelessness, resulting in suicidal attempts or acts that need to be prevented and better investigated.