As tramas psicossociais da cooperação e da competição em diferentes contextos de trabalho

Abstract

In this paper we approach the aspects that underpin cooperation and competition as social practices in their psychosocial implications and the meanings attributed to them in different work contexts. In the case studies discussed, cooperation within the capitalist enterprise, which ignores the competition between different interests of workers, shows its limits in street markets: the rules that control and regulate the close interactions between the sellers (strongly based on culture and history) expose the limits of competition and cancel out the idea that cooperation and competition would be mutually exclusive. Finally, in self-managed cooperatives, formal cooperation and the constitution of collective agreements simultaneously demand either confrontation or competition between points of view. This reading of the various relationships between cooperation and competition shows that they establish unique configurations according to the social structure and social values, history, tradition and culture.

Keywords

• Social psychology of work
• Organizational processes
• Micropolitics
• Cooperation
• Competition