Freedom, republicanism, and workplace democracy

Abstract

This paper explores the republican case for worker voice in economic enterprises based on the ideal of freedom as non-domination, and assesses its merits relative to two influential arguments for workplace democratization grounded on freedom understood as autonomy and selfdetermination. Two claims are advanced. The first is that the republican case for worker voice avoids difficulties associated with these two arguments. The second, however, is that the ideal of non-domination is insufficient, that an adequate understanding and defence of workplace democracy will also have to make significant reference to freedom understood as autonomy.

Understanding of Organizational Democracy: A Research on the Personnel of the Provincial Directorate of Youth Services and Sports

“…When it brings innovation and change for the organization, the sense of responsibility is reinforced for the workers. (Harrison and Freeman, 2004;Breen, 2015). Finally, with the understanding of organizational democracy, the behaviours and loyalty of employees are positively affected, and the organizational citizenship perceptions are developed (Geçkil, 2013: 2).…”

Trabajo industrializado y praxis social: la impronta republicano-democrática en la crítica económico-política de Marx

“…Con ello han dejado de lado el calado histórico de las poleis nacidas en el Mediterráneo oriental, algo que contrasta con la tradición historiográfica del mundo antiguo, por cuanto se difumina un fecundo conjunto de experiencias que contribuyeron de forma decisiva al desarrollo de la cultura política republicana entre unas experiencias y otras. Esta omisión ha sido problematizada en distintas ramas de discusión filosóficopolítica concerniente al trasfondo histórico del ideario democrático y la extensión social de la libertad republicana (Bertomeu y Domènech, 2005;Gourevitch, 2015;Urbinati, 2019;Wagner, 2013), algo que se ha revelado crucial en lo que concierne al análisis normativo de las condiciones de libertad en el concepto moderno de trabajo (Anderson, 2019;Breen, 2015;Cabrelli y Zahn, 2017;Casassas y De Wispelaere, 2016;Cicerchia, 2019;González-Ricoy, 2014;Gourevitch, 2013;Kennedy, 2013;O'Shea, 2019;White, 2011). El campo abierto a discusión atraviesa varias disciplinas académicas, poniendo todas ellas en común que la exploración acerca de relaciones de dominación existentes, o sobre cómo sustanciar verosímilmente un diseño institucional que garantice su ausencia, recae hoy en día fundamentalmente en una profunda revisión de los derechos de propiedad y la evaluación de los entornos de producción e intercambio en términos de democratización.…”

Workplace democracy—The recent debate

“…Both from a neo‐republican and from a relational egalitarian perspective, hierarchical workplaces are problematic if employees are at the mercy of employers, at the risk of being dismissed and therefore of losing their income: employees stand under the arbitrary will of their bosses, which contradicts the fundamental imperative to create and maintain egalitarian relationships in society (Anderson, ; Breen, ; González‐Ricoy, ; Néron, ). These power relations can extend beyond working hours, having an impact on people's private and political lives, as when employers pressure employees into contributing to political campaigns (Hertel‐Fernandez, ).…”