Burnout racial: o sujeito duplamente exausto

Abstract

This study investigates how the neoliberal logic of performance, operated through disciplinary and psychopolitical dispositifs within the public university, is articulated with structural and institutional racism in the production of psychological suffering and academic exhaustion among Black students. Drawing on the works of Byung-Chul Han, Michel Foucault, Frantz Fanon, Lélia Gonzalez, Neusa Santos Souza, Silvio Almeida, and Sueli Carneiro, the research proposes the concept of Racial Burnout as a distinct analytical category, with the figure of the Doubly Exhausted Subject representing a form of suffering produced by the overlap between the demands of the performance society and the psychological costs of existing and seeking legitimacy within institutions historically constituted through racial hierarchies. To empirically examine this phenomenon, a mixed-methods study was conducted, combining an adapted version of the Maslach Burnout Inventory – Student Survey (MBI-SS) with thematic content analysis of spontaneous narratives, applied to 54 students at the Federal University of Uberlândia (UFU). Quantitative findings indicated significant levels of academic exhaustion within the sample; however, no statistically significant differences between racial groups could be identified due to limitations related to sample size and the available instruments. Qualitative analysis revealed three structuring axes of suffering: work–study balance and time management, explicit emotional exhaustion, and institutional and pedagogical criticism. The hypothesis of Racial Burnout is not confirmed by the data, but it is supported by the convergence between the theoretical framework and the empirical findings, pointing to the need for racially sensitive instruments, stratified samples, and longitudinal research designs in future studies.