The Judas kiss: On the work and retrenchment cures and the troubles they bring

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Ståhl, Christian

Affiliations: Department of Behavioural Sciences and Learning, Linköping University, Division of Education and Sociology, 581 83 Linköping, Sweden. Tel: +46 (0) 13 282690; E-mail: christian.stahl@liu.se.

Abstract: This Sounding Board article uses a number of societal stereotypes related to work and welfare to problematize the relationship between work and health, and how this relates to the prevention and management of work disability. It outlines current discourses in policy and research around these issues, and discusses some of the ethical implications of these discourses. The article concludes that the current policies on work disability and sickness insurance takes their point of departure in over-simplified accounts of the relationship between work and health, and that a more critical reading of the evidence is called for. The implications for research are also discussed, where a system-oriented perspective with attention to social gradients and the various working environments is called for.

Keywords: Work disability, sickness absence, health, prevention

DOI: 10.3233/WOR-193053

Journal: Work, vol. 65, no. 1, pp. 181-186, 2020