The intersectional character of discouragement and its effects of meaning in the discourse of the entrepreneurship

Abstract

From the perspective of materialist Analysis of Discourse, we deal with the intersectional character of discouragement, assuming the right to work in contemporary society. Considering that capitalism radicalizes the racial, sexual, and technical constitution of work, we turn our interest to the phenomenon of discouragement, considered as an expression of capital-labor antagonism, characterizing the condition of workers who have given up looking for a job. In this theoretical reflection, we aim to contribute to studies that deal with the process of precarious work, with special attention to discouragement, in its meaning effects. In Brazil, we have observed the intensification of socio-historical conditions of denial of the right to work, with a greater effect on women and the black population. In this sense, entrepreneurship appears as a promise to discouraged workers, who are led to believe that the desired professional success depends only on their individual effort, ignoring the structural conditions that determine their possibilities to work. In this way, the discourse of entrepreneurship highlights the intersectional character of discouragement, producing meaningful effects that disguise the precariousness of work under neoliberal rule. In this way, the intersectional character of discouragement produces meaningful effects in the discourse of entrepreneurship, disguising the precariousness of work under neoliberal rule.