Souffrances sociales. Philosophie, psychologie et politique

Abstract

The book by Emmanuel Renault, professor of philosophy of the Ecole Normale Superieure of Lyon, presents an interesting and wide-ranging survey of recent studies of the concept of social suffering, based on philosophy, psychology and political science. The term social suffering (in the singular or plural) is widely used today in the social sciences, covering different aspects related to a loss in the quality of life, experienced both at individual level (psychopathological symptoms deriving from inhumane working conditions, unemployment or job instability, for example) and collective level (social unease, degradation of the living conditions of communities, situations of domination, social exclusion, violence, psychological harassment, etc.). The term is also evoked in political debates on the actions taken by society or public policies to identify the problems related to the living conditions or social exclusion of certain sectors of the population. In these debates, social suffering is frequently associated with the recent effects of neoliberalism, in particular increased job instability and the limitations imposed on social security for wage-earners and the unemployed. Although social suffering has existed in various societies and historical periods (suffering linked, for example, to the situation of workers with the onset of industrialization in 19th century Europe, slavery in colonized countries, forced labour or other authoritarian practices), the intensive use of the corresponding concept in the social sciences is fairly recent. In the French context, one author who contributed considerably to its divulgation is Christophe Dejours, a work psychologist who at the end of the 20th century investigated the Michel Thiollent