This text tries to echo the deconstruction of the programs of Quality of work life (QWL), from the perspective of the article by Valkyrie Padilha. We start with Castoriadis' (1997) considerations on the 'rationality' of capitalism which, based on the conformity between means and ends, does not question itself about the very rationale of these supposedly unquestionable ends. It also highlights the currentness of Marx's analyses on the capitalist mode of production and its exchange system, based on surplus value and that turns alienation into the essence of work. This mode of production remains a constant source of accidents, illnesses and deaths at work, resulting in millions of victims each year across the globe. Relations between capital and labor are revealed as an irreconcilable conflict, however, the ideologists of the human resource management attempt to 'ignore' or hide it. Successive technological innovations are targeted, according to Castoriadis, towards the reduction and eventually the elimination of man, in the processes of production, although this is only partially possible. Thus, the 'rationality' of human resources management must resort to successive strategies of manipulation-seduction of the worker, through the recurring management fads, including QWL programs.
capitalism; rationality; illness at work; human resources; QVT