L'impact psychodynamique: conviction, témoignage et séduction

Christophe Dejours’ expert statement at the France Télécom trial made a strong impression on all those who observed and attended it. This impact can be traced all the way into the judges’ advice. This article seeks to identify what lies behind the capacity of the psychodynamics to touch people in such a way that they recognize themselves intellectually and affectively in its diagnoses and explanatory schemes. The main hypothesis is that this capacity stems from the theory’s psychosomatic dimensions. The first part contrasts Merleau-Ponty’s theory of embodiment with Dejours’ conception of the two bodies. This provides keys to understand how a theoretical discourse can resonate with other peoples’ experiences. The second part focuses on work experiences, in reference to Hegel’s analysis of work in his Philosophy of Right. The third part returns to Merleau-Ponty and with his help tries to articulate how theory can echo the affective sensing that contemporaries make of the political tensions and potentials characteristic of a particular historical time.