Escape from work to survive: whiat pedagogy for living?

Abstract

We are witnessing a new flight from work. Unlike in the past, not to eliminate it and revolutionise the world, but to survive, to escape a deleterious system that drains life. The data on the so-called 'great resignations', starting in 2021, tell us of a worldwide phenomenon, not localised, including the anomaly of the Italian case, paradoxically subject to high unemployment rates. And they tell of a mass outflow, of gigantic proportions. Studies on the phenomenon, however, confirm the sense of revulsion accompanied by the desire to put an end to dehumanising dynamics. Once the season of the Fordist social pact is over and a phase of gradual lack of protection, deregulation of rights, widespread precariousness and inadequate pay has begun, employee engagement has progressively transited into the realm of narratives of worker engagement, nurtured by the 'love with natural sacrifice' for the brand and the employer. It is time to pedagogically rethink work and its meaning, starting from the bilateral and communitarian dimension of an ethically understood engagement, at the service of people and their desires for recognition and human growth. The pedagogy of work can help break down this wall, restoring lifeblood to a legitimate expectation.