Workplace democracy
What Is It?
Workplace democrats are concerned with individual workers having influence over decisions within the companies where they work. Beyond that general statement, accounts of workplace democracy vary when it comes to both the scope of decisions over which workers have influence, and the mechanisms through which worker influence is realised. Workplace democracy then captures everything from a concern with giving workers input over decisions affecting their immediate work process, to a concern with having workers be in complete control over the entire direction of the company (say through direct voting).
Workplace democracy is about workplace control and not necessarily ownership, however writers disagree about whether control rights and ownership rights can be meaningfully split and hence whether workplace democracy can be brought about in the absence of worker ownership.
Some Readings
1. Roberto Frega et al., 2019. “Workplace democracy—The recent debate” Philosophy Compass
2. Samuel Bowles and Herbet Gintis, 1993. “A Political and Economic Case for the Democratic Enterprise” Economics & Philosophy
3. Iñigo González-Ricoy, 2014. “The Republican Case for Workplace Democracy” Social Theory and Practice
4. Hélène Landemore and Isabelle Ferreras, 2016. “In Defense of Workplace Democracy: Towards a Justification of the Firm–State Analogy” Political Theory
5. Daniel Jacob and Christian Neuhäuser, 2018. “Workplace Democracy, Market Competition and Republican Self-Respect” Ethical Theory and Moral Practice