Resistance at work

mapping affective transformations during the pandemic

Abstract

The contemporary scenario, marked by the COVID-19 pandemic that ravaged the planet in 2020, has presented the world's population with the challenge of confronting this disease, minimizing its losses, and avoiding deaths. Despite various containment initiatives, the pandemic has decimated lives in both its physical and emotional dimensions. Considering this, the present documentary and theoretical study aimed to analyze the emotional transformations precipitated by this experience, focusing on the trials of resistance to work. Based on authors from Philosophy, Sociology, and Social Psychology, the study was organized in two stages: first, it conducted an analysis of the historical construction and legitimization of work ethics with its emotional consequences; then, it presented the interfaces between the pandemic and labor relations in two movements that involved the conformation and trials of resistance. At the end of the study, we emphasize the relevance of the actions of resistance to work in a pandemic context, but also post-pandemic, considering the possibilities of enhancing the health and well-being of workers.