Work Evolution and Relation Dimension: Pedagogical and Training Trajectories for Human Development

Fourth industrial revolution, Nano-Bio-Info-Cognitive Science and Technology, Industry 4.0, artificial intelligence, digital economy. All these terms indicate a metamorphosis, an evolution of work, organization and production. Current work has already changed, out-lining its future. And the relational dimension seems to be a central and unavoidable di-mension in this change. This is not an absolute novelty. Post-Fordism, in particular the lean post-Fordism, and the so-called knowledge economy or the economy of the immate-rial have already underlined its importance and incorporated it in the creation of value. Unlike Fordism, which considered it a disturbing and unproductive element. However, the real novelty consists in the emerging and increasingly extended criticism to that ne-oliberal rationality, which permeated the post-Fordism model. The solution of continuity lies in the incipient demarcation from this rationality and its substantially functionalistic and productively instrumental conception of the relational field, revealing a new educa-tional possibility. This pedagogical paper, which is written with a critical-argumentative methodological approach, intends to analyse the neoliberal impact on relational dynam-ics at work and to indicate some useful trajectories in order to translate the above-mentioned possibility into action, enhancing relationality for the purposes of a human development, in addition to a purely economic-productive one, in the light of the signs of a probable anthropological turning point, coming from several directions. The paper begins by highlighting the current working changes and its related relational needs, be-fore moving to describe the post-Fordism openness and to dwell upon the bio-economic conception of the cooperative and relational variable. Then, the paper moves on the quoted trajectories, especially focusing on the topic of acting relationality conceived in an ethical and educational way, according to the perspective of a capability approach and in contrast to the theory of human capital which becomes an enterprise-unit. Sec-ondly, it focuses on the dichotomy between the neoliberal performing-enjoying link and the acting-desiring one, as well as on the reflective, biographical and emotional-affective aspects of adult training for acting and desiring relationality. Therefore, the aim is to overcome a reductive and only performative point of view of the human factor for the benefit of an inclusive point of view, which is able to combine the demands of personal growth related to being-in-relationship with the demands of work innovation.

ULTERIORI INFORMAZIONI: Atti della 2nd International Conference of the Journal Scuola Democratica “Reinventing Education”) – sessione parallela “C.2 Lifelong Learning And Continuing Education As A Complex And Interdisciplinary Framework For The 21st Century”. Sede del Convegno: online. Data della Conferenza: 2-5 Giugno 2021. Data della relazione: 2 Giugno 2021.