Desvendando os sentidos do trabalho: limites, potencialidades e agenda de pesquisa

Abstract

In this text, we aim to analyze the contents present in the definition of meaning of work that have the greatest influence in the field of applied social sciences in Brazil. We performed an immanent analysis of the most referenced papers in the area identified through a bibliometric study in the portals CAPES, Spell and SciELO, between the years of 2000 to 2017. By the bibliometric survey it was verified that the studies about the “Meaning(s) of the Work” have two basic authors: Morin and Antunes. For Morin, the meanings of work only make sense if there is an intensification of labor and it is productive for capital; for Antunes, the meanings of labor only make sense beyond capital. Therefore, it is epistemologically impossible to discuss the two authors in the same work, as one affirms the status quo and the other denies it. The understanding emanating from the analyzed texts allowed us to reaffirm the need to rescue the “work” category from the perspective of political economy, to defend the philosophical stance of the ontopractic determination of thought and to propose a research agenda.