Resisting colonization: worker cooperatives' conceptualization and behaviour in a Habermasian perspective
Dufays, Frédéric ; O'Shea, Noreen ; Huybrechts, Benjamin ; Nelson, Teresa
2020
34
6
December
965-984
workers cooperative ; workers participation
Workers participation and European works councils
https://doi.org/10.1177/0950017019895936
English
Bibliogr.
"This article contributes to understanding the role and position of worker cooperatives in society, providing a socio-political explanation to their existence as well as conceptual tools that can be used to imagine and implement economic democracy practices. It uses and complexifies Habermas's social theory and its separation between system and lifeworld to show that cooperatives may act, intentionally and idealistically, at the interface of these two domains. This positioning enables cooperatives to participate in resisting colonization of the lifeworld by endowing individuals with resources favouring communicative action and by redefining institutional arrangements within the system. This article identifies factors explaining the varying degrees of resistance to colonization by cooperatives. It also contributes to theorizing the potential effects of organizing work in an economically democratic way."
Digital