Resumo

GOULART, Patrícia Martins. The meaning of work: theoretical delimitations (1955-2006). Cad. psicol. soc. trab. [online]. 2009, vol.12, n.1, pp.47-55. ISSN 1516-3717.

Will you keep working if you won the lottery? Since the 50's until the present, various investigations about the meaning of work have taken place, under international and national contexts, contributing with elements of reflection on the topic. We intend, based on a review of the literature in the field of social sciences, to develop a theoretical demarcation on the meaning of work focusing on the world of work in the twenty-first century. The method of gathering information was the reference to authors whose bibliography deal with the following aspects: work, meaning, work experience, post-fordism, and fordism. Their work was assessed through hard copies and soft copies, and registered in chronological order, according to their publication date. The research analyzed, published during 1955 until 2006, indicates that work has been restricted to an instrumental character, turned to economic purposes to citizens with low income levels and social protection. Currently there is a reapproachment between the meaning of work and the working conditions. In the post-fordism scene, there is an emphasis on the instrumental character on the value of work, something that seems to distance itself from what occurred in the 80's, when the fordist paradigm prevailed. Since the 2000s, there has been a smaller distance between the meaning of work and the conditions under which it takes place.

Palavras-chave : Work; Meaning; Postfordism.

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