Les risques psychosociaux : quelles correspondances anciennes aux débats récents ?

Psychosocial risks are a recent concept whose definitions are still being discussed. In fact, they don?t have a clear equivalent in the past. This is why, when history looks for passed correspondences to this concept, it must pay attention to the gaps that separate former situations from those of today. It must also be cautious of anachronisms and analogies and investigate how the different parties (employers, trade-unions, etc.) have endorsed the notion. The article examines how, over the last two centuries, certain times have given specific meanings to the concept of risk, and how they have given different forms to the debate between factors related to labour relations and those related to out of work lifestyles. From Villermé to Taylorism, from the denunciation of fatigue at work to the impact of productivity on workers, the positions adopted by social actors, the State or experts allow comparisons that highlight the specific features of the recent period, which can be assimilated to a crisis of work.