Subjective precariousness: a sociological approach to mental health

Presentation of a research project as part of the "Jeudis de la Maison Suger", a residents' research seminar.

Elton Corbanezi holds a PhD in sociology from the State University of Campinas (Brazil) in 2015. Since 2016, he has been Professor of Sociology at the Department of Sociology and Political Science at the Federal University of Mato Grosso (UFMT), which he headed from 2017 to 2019. He is the author of the book Saúde mental, depressão e capitalismo, published by Editora Unesp (2021). As part of his research in Paris, he received a grant from CNPq (Conseil National pour le Developpement Scientifique et Technologique).

Presentation of the project

"This research aims to address the notion of subjective precariousness today in order to contribute to a sociological understanding of mental health problem. Subjective precariousness can be understood as a typical individual state resulting from transformations in contemporary capitalist societies, which have established and sacralized categories such as uncertainty, instability, adaptation, autonomy, self-realization, change, fluidity, mobility, speed, flexibility and risk. We hope to show that, in addition to the socio-economic factors that explain the increase in mental health problems among unprotected and vulnerable populations and social classes, the very conception of life intrinsic to the neo-liberal imaginary can contribute to the interpretation of the phenomenon. We are also looking for collective experiences that can confront the condition of subjective precariousness. The aim is to politicize mental health as a social experience, unlike the explanations of psychiatry and neoliberal culture, which tend to reduce it to the individual."

Speaker

Elton Corbanezi: Professor of Sociology and Political Science at the Federal University of Mato Grosso