Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The legacy of slavery, subjectivity and work: intergenerational transmission and the subjective relationship to work in Guadeloupe

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Subjectivity Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The study presented here examines the subjective relationship of workers to their work in the historical context. More specifically, it looks at the influence of the transatlantic slave trade on behaviours that have been transmitted across generations on the island of Guadeloupe (French West Indies) and have resulted in collective defence strategies used by today’s workers. These are examined through historical documents and by means of interviews with a psychodynamic approach. The observed elaboration of defence strategies in the context of paid work in Guadeloupe could, thus, partially be the result of the combined effects of the habits formed during the period of slavery and the ascription (as explained by Jean Laplanche’s theory of translation) that happens in the context of the family.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. Subjectivity, 8, 2015.

  2. Some examples of resistant and disobedient behaviours we observed: (a) work to rule, applying procedures mechanically, without making any effort to reduce the gap between the rule and reality; (b) showing insubordination towards more or less obvious hierarchical authority (not listening, not paying attention, not talking to the management; acquiescing but ignoring their instructions, undoing work done by the management if it does not suit the employee); (c) work stoppages, absences, non-compliance with schedules, manifest lack of interest in work.

  3. We should point out that, obviously, a business is not a family. There is a symbolic resonance between professional life and personal life, but they are not necessarily aligned; professional life represents “an-other scene”, where what was impossible during childhood becomes possible.

  4. In this social hierarchy created by slavery and colonisation, the dominant position is occupied by the Whites and the dominated position by the Blacks (nègre) (see Michel 2020).

References

  • Bourdieu, P. 1980. Questions de sociologie. Paris: Les Éditions de Minuit.

    Google Scholar 

  • Butler, J. 1990. Gender trouble. Feminism and the subversion of identity. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cabanes, R. 2002. Travail, famille mondialisation. Paris: Karthala.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chiland, C (Dir.) 1993. L’entretien clinique. Réed 2013. Paris: P.U.F.

  • Davoine, F., and J.-M. Gaudillière. 2004. History beyond trauma. New York: Other Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Degruy Leary, J. 2005. Post traumatic slave syndrome: america’s legacy of enduring injury and healing. Oregon: Uptone Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dejours, C. 1980. Travail: usure mentale. Paris: Bayard.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dejours, C. 1988. Méthodologie en psychopathologie du travail. In: C. Dejours (ed.) Plaisir et souffrance dans le travail, vol. 1–2. Paris: CD Rom PSY.T.A.

  • Dejours, C. 1993. Addendum. Travail: usure mentale, 2nd ed. Paris: Bayard.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dejours, C. 2003. Pour une théorie psychanalytique de la différence de sexes. In Sur la théorie de la séduction, ed. A. Green, I. Grubrich-Simitis, J. Laplanche, J.-G. Schimek, C. Chabert, C. Dejours, and J.-C. Rolland, 55–68. Paris.

    Google Scholar 

  • Delanoë, D. 2015. Les châtiments corporels de l’enfant, une forme élémentaire de la domination. L’autre 16: 48–58.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Delphy, C. 2001. L’ennemi principal, II: “penser le genre.” Paris: Syllepse.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fanon, F. 1967. Black skin, white masks. New York: Grove Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ganem, V. 2002. Formes, sens et impact de conduites de résistance et de désobéissance observée en Guadeloupe. Paris: Mémoire de DEA en Psychologie du travail et de l’action CNAM.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ganem, V. 2005. La traversée du miroir. Cahiers Des Anneaux De La Mémoire 8: 315–328.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ganem, V. 2007. Le rapport subjectif au travail en Guadeloupe. Analyse des incidences de l’héritage de l’esclavage sur les conduites actuelles des salariés dans l’hôtellerie. Thèse de doctorat de psychologie non publiée, Ecole doctorale Entreprise Travail Emploi, Paris. https://hal.science/tel-01423428

  • Ganem, V. 2010. retour sur le « liyannaj kont pwofitasyon (LKP) » accompli en Guadeloupe » Nouvelle revue de psychosociologie, 9: 199–211.

  • Ganem, V. 2011 Seul le travail rentable est évalué, Travailler – Revue Internationale de Psychopathologie et Psychodynamique du Travail, 25: 129–144.

  • Ganem, V. 2012. La désobéissance à l’autorité. L’énigme de la Guadeloupe. Paris: P.U.F.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Ganem, V. 2019. L’enquête de psychodynamique du travail canonique: prescription et réalité. Travailler 41: 61–74.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ganem, V. 2021. Aux Frontières du Travail: Analyse des incidences de l’héritage de l’esclavage transatlantique sur les conduites au travail actuelles. De la Guadeloupe au Brésil. Mémoire de synthèse en vue de l’obtention du diplôme d’Habilitation à Diriger des Recherches. Université Sorbonne Paris Nord. https://hal.science/tel-03213229/document

  • Hickling, F.W. 2013. The treatment of personality discorder in jamaica with psychohistoriographic brief psychotherapy. West-Indian Medj 62 (5): 431–436.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hugues, M., and B. Hertel. 1990. The significance of colour remains. Social Forces 69 (1): 1105–1120.

    Google Scholar 

  • Laplanche, J. 1989. New foundations for psychoanalysis. Cambridge: Basil Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Laplanche, J. 2003. Le genre, le sexe, le sexual. In Sur la théorie de la séduction, ed. A. Green, et al., 69–104. Paris: Inpress.

    Google Scholar 

  • Michel, A. 2020. Un monde en nègre et blanc. Paris: Seuil.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miller, A. 1987. For your own good: the roots of violence in child-rearing. London: Virago.

    Google Scholar 

  • Molinier P. 2003. Psychodynamique du travail et identité sexuelle. Villeneuve d’Ascq: Presses Universitaires du Septentrion.

  • Molinier, P. 2006. Les enjeux psychiques du travail. Paris: Payot.

    Google Scholar 

  • Molinier, P. 2008. Pénis de tête. Ou comment la masculinité devient sublime aux filles. Cahiers Du Genre 45: 153–176.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Molinier, P. 2012. Une enquête de psychodynamique du travail dans un département de recherche industrielle. Méthodologie, élaboration, résultats. Bulletin De Psychologie 519: 217–225.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Molinier, P., and A. Flottes. 2012. Travail et santé mental: approches cliniques. Travail Et Emploi 129: 51–66.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ndiaye, P. 2006. Questions de couleur. Histoire, idéologie et pratiques du colorisme, in Fassin, E & Fassin, D. De la question sociale à la question raciale. Représenter la société française. Paris, La Découverte, « Cahiers libres » p. 37–54.

  • Oudin-Bastide, C. 2005. Travail, capitalisme et société esclavagiste. Paris: La Découverte.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Patton, S. 2017a. Corporal punishment in Black communities: not an intrinsic cultural tradition but racial trauma. Insights into the historical roots of African parenting. CYF News, April 2017a. http://www.apa.org/pi/families/resources/newsletter/2017a/04/racial-trauma.aspx. Accessed 8 Dec 2021.

  • Patton, S. 2017b. Spare the kids: why whupping children won’t save Black America. Boston: Beacon Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ratliff, B.-K. 2014. The battered race syndrome & the habit of racism, a case for réparations and world reconciliation. Irvine: Point of View Publishing Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Régent, F. 2007. La France et ses esclaves. De la colonisation aux abolitions (1620–1848). Paris: Grasset and Fasquelle.

  • Régent, F. 2021. Du préjugé de couleur au préjugé de race, le cas des Antilles françaises. Revue D’histoire Moderne & Contemporaine 3: 64–90.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sainton, J.-P. 2018. Les vecteurs de la continuité en Guadeloupe et Martinique: présences de l’esclavage dans les structures sociales et dans les représentations esclavagistes. In L’esclavage: quel impact sur la psychologie des populations?, ed. A. Charles-Nicolas and B. Bowser. Paris: Idem Editions.

    Google Scholar 

  • Verna, M., and K. Herring. 1991. Skin tone stratification in the black community. American Journal of Sociology, No 3: 767–770.

    Google Scholar 

  • Walker, A. 1983. In search of our mothers’ gardens: womanist prose. New York: Harcourt Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Walkerdine, V., A. Olsvold, and M. Rudberg. 2013. Researching Embodiment and Intergenerational Trauma using the work of Davoine and Gaudillière: History walked in the door. Subjectivity 3: 272–327. https://doi.org/10.1057/sub.2013.8

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Paris, Clinical Psychology, Psychopathology, Psychoanalysis (PCPP), UR 4056, Boulogne-Billancourt, France

    Valérie Ganem

  2. Université Sorbonne Paris Nord, UR 4403, Villetaneuse, France

    Valérie Ganem

Authors
  1. Valérie Ganem
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Valérie Ganem.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Associate Professor (Maître de conférences) in Psychology of Work at the Université Sorbonne Paris Nord. Member of the Cross-sectional Research Unit Psychogenesis and Psychopathology (UTRPP), UR 4403, Villetaneuse, France. Associated Researcher, University of Paris, Clinical Psychology, Psychopathology, Psychoanalysis (PCPP), UR 4056 Boulogne-Billancourt, France.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Ganem, V. The legacy of slavery, subjectivity and work: intergenerational transmission and the subjective relationship to work in Guadeloupe. Subjectivity 30, 185–203 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41286-023-00160-z

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41286-023-00160-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation