Caring for the other amidst a competitive economic environment : the case of psychosocial handicap

Purpose - Dealing with psycho‐sociological handicaps is a hidden problem of capitalism, which targets full‐employment societies. However, taking educational and social costs into account, it is easily seen that getting rid of these fragile persons is a huge waste for a society as a whole. The aim of this paper is to sketch the possibilities of integrating the work of psycho‐sociologically handicapped as a positive outcome for both economy and society.Design/methodology/approach - Drawing on the case of France, the paper points out that no easy solution exists. Integration at any price may generate huge suffering; positive discrimination raises problems of justice between employees; putting these people aside from workplaces and granting them some kind of subvention, all these "solutions" have obvious drawbacks.Findings - The paper considers the possibilities of "semi‐competitive" sectors, as they still exist in France – even tough hardly attacked by ultra‐liberal ideology – as an acceptable and balanced solution to the problem of economical and social integration of psycho‐sociological handicapped people.Originality/value - Originality comes from the crossing of psycho‐analytic, sociologic and care literatures on a matter (psychosocial handicap) that is too seldom taken into account in business and society studies.