Taking as a starting point the discussions about suicide from Cristophe Dejours on the new work organizations in the contemporary world, this work aims at pointing the theoretical elements for the discussion of the problem, on the grounds of the critical theory of society. The writings of Adorno, Horkheimer, and Marcuse offer a useful conceptual tool about the topic in order to enlighten how the current historical form in which the instrumental rationality has been objectified. Forms of work organization in enterprises under the “terror management” mobilize and empower individuals in their “authoritarian traits”, individual characteristics which are required for production and appropriate for the destructive tendencies in the current social context. Finally, suffering at work is understood as a reflection of the deformation of subjectivity by the prevailing social form of alienated work in post-industrial societies, thus resulting in the so called “dead work”- the suicidal act of an employee in his/her workplace.
Critical theory; Occupational stress; Working conditions; Suicide
