"Working bodies: a dual enactive and psychodynamic approach"

Work is a major concern for most individuals, including scholars, and yet it is rarely mentioned, let alone studied, in research on mind and cognition. This article aims to demonstrate the relevance of work for cognitive research, by showing specifically how an enactive approach can illuminate the analysis of work. To help in this task, the article introduces “contemporary living labour theory” (CLLT), a rich strand of contemporary research based on Christophe Dejours’ psychodynamics of work. After outlining the two main paradigms, the article explores what an enactive approach informed by CLLT can teach about work across the different aspects of embodiment: metabolic, affective, sensorimotor and intersubjective. For each one of those aspects, an enactive approach lends descriptive richness and specificity to the analysis of work. However, CLLT also complements and extends the enactive approach at several important points. To “bring forth a world” is not just an epistemic or symbolic act, but also the outcome of work.