Democratize Work.

The Case for Reorganizing the Economy

Have a look at this page to know more about events related to the release of “Democratize Work”.

In the meantime, watch below the Global Book Launch held on May 16, 2022:

“Democratize Work” now available at the University of Chicago Press

Isabelle Ferreras, Julie Battilana, and Dominique Méda

Translated by Miranda Richmond Mouillot

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).

“Democratize Work”
Global Book Launch

(Watch the recording here)

Date & Time: May 16, 2022, 11am-12.30pm NYC / 5-6.30pm Paris / 8.30-10pm Delhi

After introducing the book, we heard from an outstanding panel, reflecting on the diversity of perspectives and actors engaged with #DemocratizingWork:

Sharan Burrow, General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation and former President of the Australian Council of Trade Unions
Jayati Ghosh, Professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, member of United Nations High-Level Advisory Board on Economic and Social Affairs, and former Chairperson of the Centre for Economic Studies and Planning at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, India
Nicolás Grau, Minister of Economy, Development and Reconstruction of Chile
Thomas Piketty, Professor of Economics at the Paris School of Economics-EHESS, France, and author of Capital in the Twenty-First Century
Moderator, Sharon Block, Professor of Practice and Executive Director of theLabor and Worklife Program at Harvard Law School and former Acting Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) for the Biden Administration.

The panel was followed by a 30 minute-discussion between the audience and us, the 13 authors of the book. This discussion was chaired by Adelle Blackett of McGill University.

“Democratize Work”
Events

Book Discussion at Harvard Law School - October 26, 2022 (12:15-1:30 pm ET)

Organized by the Labor and Worklife Program (Harvard Law School) and Social Innovation Change Innitiative (SICI), with Isabelle Ferreras (University of Louvain/Harvard Labor and Worklife Program) and Julie Battilana (HBS /HKS-SICI), Archon Fung (HKS), Marshall Ganz (HKS), Nien-hê Hsieh (HBS) and Anna Stansbury (MIT Sloan) as panelists, Sharon Block (HLS) as chair.

The event will consist of two parts: first, a presentation by two of the co-editors of Democratize Work, followed by a panel discussion of leading scholars of democracy and labor on the themes presented in the book.

The event is hybrid: in-person (Wasserstein Hall, Room 209, Harvard Law School) and online (link)

Annual Assembly of the Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics in Amsterdam - July 10, 2022

Session “Author Meets Critics”

With Virginia Doellgast (Cornell University ILR School), Dalia Gesualdi-Fecteau (UQAM), Anke Hassel (Hertie School of Governance), Lukas Lehner (University of Oxford), David Peetz (Griffith University) as critics, Isabelle Ferreras (University of Louvain/FNRS-Harvard LWP, Royal Academy of Belgium) as book author, and Gregor Murray (University of Montreal) as moderator

The recording is available in English on this page (starts at 6:46:40).

European Trade Union Confederation/ETUI Conference in Brussels - June 23, 2022

Perhaps more than ever after Covid-19 and in the context of larger democratic crisis, redistributing political power and reinforcing political democracy means ensuring that workers have a decisive voice in decisions affecting the strategies and orientation of their work organisation. This panel will address the potential of democratizing firms, especially their procedures of decision-making, to redress power inequality in the workplace and in society at large. The panel will explore what are the conditions required for its success and how can this be implemented in practice.

The goal is twofold: firstly, situating the democratization of firms as a core priority in the agenda towards social and political equality. Secondly, encouraging the debate on workplace democratization beyond the more traditional frames of the trade union agenda. In that vein, the panel will make special reference to worker buyouts and cooperatives models in Europe, and to a novel proposal for governing firms: economic bicameralism. The role and opportunities for trade unions in revitalizing and developing such new practices and institutions to implement democracy at work will be central in the discussion.

With Sarah Lafuente Hernandez (researcher, ETUI), Agnes Akkerman (University of Amsterdam), Andrew Cumbers (University of Glasgow), Isabelle Ferreras (UCLouvain), Andrea Bassi (Bologna University), Stan De Spiegelaere (Director of Policy and Research, UNI Europa)

Watch the recording below:

Study Day in Brussels - June 22, 2022

Organisée par le Groupe de contact FNRS « Redéfinir la prospérité », le groupe de recherches « Travail, Entreprises et Démocratie » (Cridis-IACHOS-UCLouvain), le Centre Socialiste d’Education Permanente et le chapitre belge du réseau #DemocratizingWork

Avec Isabelle Ferreras (FNRS/TED-CriDIS-UCLouvain), Bénédicte Sohet (ConcertES), Elise Dermine (ULB), Ides Nicaise (HIVA/KULeuven), Sébastien Brunet (IWEPS), Guéric Bosmans (FGTB), Paul Hermant (CESEP), Thomas Bailly (Pays Terres de Lorraine), Aurélie Machelin (Territoires zéro chômeur de longue durée, France), Géraldine Thiry (ICHEC, UCLouvain), Halène Ancion (Inter-environnement Wallonie), Antoine Scalliet (ATD Quart-Monde Belgique), Julien Charles (CESEP/TED-CriDIS-UCLouvain), Christine Mahy (RWLP), Tom Bauler (IGEAT-ULB), Auriane Lamine (CRIDES, UCLouvain), Céline Romainville (CRECO, UCLouvain), Joan Stavo-Debauge (Université de Lausanne), Céline Niewenhuys (Fédération des Services sociaux), Laurent Grandguillaume (Territoires zéro chômeur de longue durée), Christie Morreale (Gouvernement wallon)

No recording available.

Book discussion in London - June 9, 2022

This 9th June, Common Wealth and Autonomy will host the London launch of Democratize Work (Chicago University Press) — edited by Isabelle Ferreas, Julie Battilana, and Dominique Méda — which argues for workplace democracy to rebalance power in the economy and society at large.

Democratize Work is a collection of essays from a dozen social scientists – all women – that makes the case for reorganising work to build a sustainable economy that fits the democratic project of our societies.

To celebrate the book’s launch, Isabelle Ferreas and Hélène Landemore will be in conversation with Parth Patel (IPPR), Amelia Horgan (Common Wealth) and more TBA. The panel will be chaired by Mathew Lawrence (Common Wealth). Their discussion will be followed by an audience Q&A.

No recording available.

Colloquium in Oxford - June 7, 2022

The Institute for Ethics in AI will bring together world-leading philosophers and other experts in the humanities with the technical developers and users of AI in academia, business and government. The ethics and governance of AI is an exceptionally vibrant area of research at Oxford and the Institute is an opportunity to take a bold leap forward from this platform.

Every day brings more examples of the ethical challenges posed by AI; from face recognition to voter profiling, brain machine interfaces to weaponised drones, and the ongoing discourse about how AI will impact employment on a global scale. This is urgent and important work that we intend to promote internationally as well as embedding in our own research and teaching here at Oxford.

Watch the recording below: