Precarious work in Federal Institutes: an analysis of the processes of intensification of verticalized work

Abstract

This article makes a review of the concept of precarious work. Our method of exposure and analysis follows the approach of dialectical historical materialism. Our choice of sources followed the bibliographic and field research, with the help of thematic-category content analysis. Some precarious elements of the teaching work in Federal Institutes (IFs) have been pointed out, such as the fetish of the new career in the IFs, the verticalization and the intensification of teachers’ work. It is discussed here that there is in the institution a polyvalence required by the verticalization of the work. This intensification makes the teaching work more precarious since it requires greater mental effort from the teacher, his/her knowledge of various processes; his/her adaptability of its practice to the diversity of classes in which it operates; diverse emotional work; intensification of its logic of action, of attention and control; longer preparation time of classes and contents covered in the classroom. Thus, the porosity of work, the time needed for reflection and the time of non-work are swallowed by the tasks of preparation of the work. Finally, the article points out the dimensions of praxis that the precariousness category must present in the field of interpretation and struggle of/for teaching work. Our conclusion is that the mediations between theory and praxis must regard precariousness as a political term, a kaleidoscopic process which aims to apprehend the constant exploration of the new quantum of work, without changing its status, in addition to the subjective reflections of suffering, the teachers’ illnesses caused by constant transformations imposed on the organization of work. Thus, in the IFs, the process of verticalization of work makes the teaching practice precarious.