On a Subjective Crisis in the Civil Service

In the civil service, the state employee places his skills at the disposal of an institution in order to best serve it. This ambition structures his discourse and supports his position in his work—in other words, his relation to the desire of the Other who, in return, upholds it. But if he must leave his job, feelings of “disaffection” can be expected, and sometimes quite dramatically so. For when an institution begins to evaluate its employee, it threatens his illusion that he could remain employed forever. The story of Henri testifies to this drama.