ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the authors examine suffering as an intrinsic aspect of the contemporary neoliberal organisation of work. They focus on the theoretical perspective of Christophe Dejours, who provides a novel and unique perspective on the notion of ‘stress’ at work. The authors review critical approaches to the dark side of organisations, and outline Dejours’ theory of work and suffering. They argue that the materiality of suffering is what brings it inescapably close to the materiality of care for oneself and each other, without which they cannot survive work, and without which working lives become insufferable. Dejours’ perspective makes an important contribution to the organisational dark side literature in providing a detailed account of what happens when people work, and specifically the psychic and embodied impact of work on workers. Changes in the organisation’s policies and structure–a frequent occurrence in the ‘fluid’ organ-isation–completely disregard the actuality of work.
