Democratize Work

The Case for Reorganizing the Economy

Isabelle Ferreras, Julie Battilana, Dominique Méda, Miranda Richmond Mouillot

• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Year: 2022
• Print ISBN: 9780226819624
• eBook ISBN: 9780226819631
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Democracy
• Index: Politics & International Relations

An urgent and deeply resonant case for the power of workplace democracy to restore balance between economy and society. What happens to a society—and a planet—when capitalism outgrows democracy? The tensions between democracy and capitalism are longstanding, and they have been laid bare by the social effects of COVID-19. The narrative of "essential workers" has provided thin cover for the fact that society's lowest paid and least empowered continue to work risky jobs that keep our capitalism humming. Democracy has been subjugated by the demands of capitalism. For many, work has become unfair. In Democratize Work, essays from a dozen social scientists—all women—articulate the perils and frustrations of our collective moment, while also framing the current crisis as an opportunity for renewal and transformation. Amid mounting inequalities tied to race, gender, and class—and with huge implications for the ecological fate of the planet—the authors detail how adjustments in how we organize work can lead to sweeping reconciliation. By treating workers as citizens, treating work as something other than an asset, and treating the planet as something to be cared for, a better way is attainable. Building on cross-disciplinary research, Democratize Work is both a rallying cry and an architecture for a sustainable economy that fits the democratic project of our societies.Contributors include Alyssa Battistoni (Barnard College of Columbia University), Adelle Blackett (McGill University), Julia Cagé (Sciences Po), Neera Chandhoke (University of Delhi), Lisa Herzog (University of Groningen), Imge Kaya Sabanci (IE Business School), Sara Lafuente (European Trade Union Institute), Hélène Landemore (Yale University), Flávia Máximo (Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto, Brazil), and Pavlina R. Tcherneva (Levy Economics Institute of Bard College).

Index

academics, 10, 17–18, 56n2, 71

agitators, 9–10, 16, 112

American Dream, 1, 4

Anderson, Elizabeth, 2, 26, 52

Anthropocene, 43, 112. See also climate change; environmental remediation

Argentina, 88–89

Banerjee, Abhijit, 6

Bargaining for the Common Good, 105

Biden, Joe, 27

Black Lives Matter, 24, 59

Bolsonaro, Jair, 39

Boston, Massachusetts, 1–2

Brazil, 1, 101; Vida Verde (worker cooperative), 1–2

Breman, Jan, 93

capitalism: democracy and, 26, 27–28; focus on access to property ownership, 35; legal subordination and, 101; Marx on, 111; neoliberal capitalism, 73–74, 86; racial capitalism, 69; work and, 25–26; worker-bodies and, 99

capitalist firms: capital investors and, 33; core constituents of, 28–30; labor investors and, 33

Carson, Rachel, 104

CEOs, 105; choosing and appointing, 20, 33, 34; compensation, 2–3, 4, 49

Civilian Conversations Corps, 109

civil society, 86, 94

climate change, 42, 51, 58, 64, 103–4; activists, 9; global warming, 104n1, 111–12; low-technology solutions, 43–44; neoliberalism and, 7; One Million Climate Jobs Campaign, 115–16. See also environmental remediation

codetermination (Mitbestimmung), 12, 20, 27, 34n18, 37n24, 53, 74–76, 106

collective bargaining, 3, 30–33, 78, 91, 102

collective veto power, 35

coloniality and colonization, 70, 71, 73, 98–101

Commission on the Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress, 113–14

control, lack of, 2–3

Coolidge, Calvin, 12

coronavirus crisis. See COVID-19 pandemic

corporate social responsibility (C...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Introduction: For a Fairer, More Democratic, Greener Society
• Manifesto: Work. Democratize. Decommodify. Decarbonize.
• From the Politically Impossible to the Politically Inevitable: Taking Action
• Democratize Firms . . . Why, and How?
• Equal Dignity for All Citizens Means Equal Voice at Work: The Importance of Epistemic Justice
• Democratizing Work to Reverse Increasing Inequalities
• Work in Dignity
• Dual Majorities for Firm Governments
• Rescuing Journalism by Decommodifying the Media
• Decommodifying Work: The Power of a Job Guarantee
• All Workers Produce Value
• The Subaltern Worker-Body Speaks; Will the Privileged Listen?
• Sustaining Life on This Planet
• Working Against an End: Shifting Gears for a New Beginning
• Acknowledgments
• About the Authors
• Index
• Footnotes