Workplace Democracy Comes of Age: Economic Stability, Growth, and Workforce Diversity

Abstract

Previous studies of worker-owned firms claimed that participatory democracy only thrives in small, homogeneous groups. This article focuses on a successful 30-year-old worker-owned company with more than 200 employees to explain how broad and deep democratic control, a large workforce, and member diversity are brought together. Drawing attention to its combination of training, infrastructure, compensation for management functions, and workplace culture, I argue that an equitable distribution of power and resources does not require hierarchical management, friendship relations, size limits, or member homogeneity. The article highlights the need for greater scholarly attention to worker ownership possibilities for the current multiracial and multicultural working population.

Citation

Meyers, J.S.M. (2005), "Workplace Democracy Comes of Age: Economic Stability, Growth, and Workforce Diversity", Smith, V. (Ed.) Worker Participation: Current Research and Future Trends (Research in the Sociology of Work, Vol. 16), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 205-237. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0277-2833(06)16008-2