#DW #12 Newsletter
October - November
2025
Amplifying our Commitment!
Dear signatories of the #DemocratizingWork Manifesto,
As the year 2025 is unfolding, democratizing work is clearly not merely an option but a necessity. A recent International Labour Organization assessment warns of mounting inequality and job insecurity as technological, climate, and demographic shifts outpace protections for workers. From strikes to policy debates, people everywhere are demanding fairer work and stronger say. The message is clear: to protect democracy itself, we must democratize work, decommodify labor, and decarbonize the economy. How about you? We want to know about the important work that you are all conducting on this front! Please share your projects, publications, events, or any initiative advancing the principles of democratizing, decommodifying, and decarbonizing work. Send your updates to info@democratizingwork.org.
MAJOR RECOGNITION
November, Julie Battilana Awarded the 2025 Progress Medal by the Society for Progress
With fellow #DW signatories, 2025 fellow laureate Johanna Mair, and jury member, Elizabeth Anderson
We are very proud to share the news that, at a ceremony hosted at INSEAD-Paris, #DW co-founder Julie Battilana, (Harvard University, #DW core group member) received the 2025 Progress Medal from the Society for Progress. Among this year’s distinguished awardees were Jürgen Habermas as well as #DW signatory Johanna Mair. This award recognizes her pioneering research on hybrid organizing as a social technology integrating economic and moral logics.
PAST EVENTS
Online book launch, October 9, 16.00–17.30 (Berlin/CET), Digitale Buchvorstellung: Ferreras I., Battilana J., Méda D. ed., Die Demokratisierung der Arbeit. Ein Plädoyer zur Reorganisation unserer Wirtschaft (Bielefeld: Transcript)
The German edition of Democratizing Work sparked an inspiring discussion at its launch, gathering academics, unionists, and practitioners committed to advancing workplace democracy. The event highlighted the growing resonance of the movement across Europe and the relevance of the three principles (democratize, decommodify, and decarbonize) in shaping fairer economies. You can watch the recording of the event. Note that it is a German-spoken event.
You can get the book here.
Bordeaux, 23–27 October, CIRIEC International & GSEF Conferences: Pavlina Tcherneva on Decommodifying Work: Why Now, and How To Do So!
At the CIRIEC International and Global Social Economy Forum (GSEF), Pavlina Tcherneva (#DW core group member) delivered a keynote to the 10,000 participants, outlining a project of democratic renewal centered around the guarantee of the right to decent employment for all, mobilizing the solidarity economy as the site where we can decommodify work and address public purpose goals like decarbonizing the economy.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Online, 20 November, Utrecht University, Visions for the Future Speaker Series
As part of Utrecht University’s Visions for the Future series, member of the #DW core group, Lisa Herzog argues that democracy is still possible, but only if democratic values get embedded in everyday experience—including our economic life.
Ljubljana and Online, November 20-21, Second International Labour Congress: World Divided, Labour United
Join international labour leaders and academic thinkers for the second edition of the initiative launched in 2024 by Yolanda Diaz, Vice-Prime Minister of Spain and Minister of Labour and Social Economy. Isabelle Ferreras (#DW core group member) will join a panel on the role of employee ownership in a democratic economy.
Follow online: https://www.labourint2025.org/team
Full program link: https://www.labourint2025.org/general-5
Utrecht, 3 December, University of Utrecht, From Shareholder Capitalism to Democratic Economy
The University of Utrecht will host a major public discussion on the transition: From Shareholder Capitalism to Democratic Economy. Isabelle Ferreras (#DW core group member), joined by Caleb Althorpe will explore how firms can evolve beyond shareholder primacy to become democratic organizations. Together, the speakers will examine how rethinking ownership, worker voice, and purpose can align the economy with social and ecological justice.
Lisbon, 4 December, ETUI, Reviving Worker Participation in Portugal and Europe
Organized by the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI), this event will focus on revitalizing worker participation across Portugal and Europe. Sara Lafuente (#DW core group member) will contribute to the conversation, addressing how worker voice and representation can anchor a more democratic and socially just economic model. See the draft agenda here.
Brussels, 4 December, ETUI @ CRIMT-University of Montréal, Innovating and Experimenting for Union Renewal in Europe and Beyond. Where are We at and Where Do We Need to Go?
This conference will bring together union leaders, researchers, and activists to assess current innovations in the labour movement and envision new strategies for renewal. The discussions will highlight how experimentation and cross-border collaboration can help unions strengthen democracy at work and confront emerging global challenges.
NEW BOOKS
La salvación del trabajo (Herder, 2025) Lisa Herzog
Lisa Herzog ofrece un llamamiento político urgente para repensar el trabajo en tiempos de automatización, precariedad e incertidumbre. Frente al miedo creciente ante un futuro laboral dominado por algoritmos y robots, Herzog rechaza el catastrofismo y defiende que el trabajo es demasiado central para la vida social como para dejarlo a la deriva. Propone reconstruir sus fundamentos jurídicos, sociales y digitales para alinearlo con los principios de la democratización del trabajo, la dignidad y la prosperidad humanas, trazando vías concretas hacia una política del trabajo más justa y democrática. El libro está disponible en formato físico y digital aqui.
Démocratie(s) en action, 50 approches renouvelées de l’entreprise et du travail, (Bordeaux, Editions Bord de l’Eau, 2025) Corentin Gombert, Eline Vivet-Maladry, Fadi Joseph Lahiani (ed.)
Démocratie(s) en action explore l’entreprise comme espace d’expérimentation démocratique cette ambition à travers une pluralité de regards et de voix. Issu des travaux de l’Agora D.O.D.E.S., ce livre réunit 67 autrices et auteurs venus d’horizons multiples (chercheur·ses, ouvrier·es, dirigeant·es, syndicalistes, consultant·es) qui ont uni leurs voix pour écrire 50 chapitres. Parmi les contributions, on retrouve un chapitre d’Isabelle Ferreras sur la mise en œuvre des principes de démocratisation du travail dans le contexte de l’initiative en cours prise par le Gouvernement espagnol.
NATIONAL CHAPTERS
FRANCE
Paris, 20 November 2025, Soirée-débat autour du livre Démocraties en actions – 50 approches renouvelées de l’entreprise et du travail
Cet évènement organisé par Agora D.O.D.E.S rassemblera chercheur·euses et praticien·nes pour discuter les nouvelles approches de la démocratie au travail et dans l’entreprise. Pour plus d’informations, voir ici. Et de nombreuses dates dans toute la France, avec les autrices et auteurs de l’ouvrage !
INDIA
Online, 24 October 2025, When Workers Take Over: Cooperatives and Economic Democracy
The India National Chapter of #DemocratizingWork hosted a bilingual (Hindi–English) webinar discussing cooperatives and economic democracy. You can watch the full session here:
Speakers included Mathoo Oraon (Sonali Tea Garden, West Bengal), Konika Dhanwar (Madhu Tea Garden, West Bengal), Munna Barman (Bargi Matsya Sangh, MP), K.V. Jayadevan (Indian Coffee House, MP), and Sreeja Murali (ULCCS, Kerala). Moderated by Krishna Priya Choragudi, the session highlighted powerful stories of worker-led enterprises reclaiming production and decision-making power.
SCIENTIFIC PAPERS
September, Journal of Business Ethics, Flavia Maximo and Lisa Herzog, Which Value Counts? Towards a Decolonial Perspective on Value Creation
In their new article for the Journal of Business Ethics, Flavia Maximo and Lisa Herzog, both members of the #DW core group, challenge the dominant Western notion that value can be fully captured by price, arguing that such frameworks obscure the power dynamics and racial hierarchies shaping global value creation. Drawing on feminist, environmental, and decolonial perspectives—and illustrated through the case of Brazilian waste pickers, the authors call for a profound ethical rethinking of how we define and recognize value in economic life. The article is available in open access here.
November, Analyse & Kritik, Markus Pausch, Workplaces as Schools of Democratic Resilience? Conceptual Considerations About the Spillover Effect
In his article “Workplaces as Schools of Democratic Resilience? Conceptual Considerations About the Spillover Effect”, Markus Pausch explores how experiences at work shape citizens’ capacity to resist authoritarianism and nurture democratic values. He argues that democratizing workplaces is essential not only for participation and equality but also for building the resilience needed to defend democracy itself by making the workplace a vital arena for cultivating democratic culture in times of rising autocracy. The article is available here.
MEDIA COVERAGE
October 22, El Español, Interview of Lisa Herzog
In an interview with El Español, Lisa Herzog, member of the #DW core group, reflects on how the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence is reshaping the world of work and threatening workers’ autonomy. She calls for stronger democratic voice and participation within firms to ensure that technological progress serves human dignity rather than undermines it.
November 2, Le Monde, Dominique Méda, “Macron a sali l’idée de démocratie sociale”
In her op-ed for Le Monde, Dominique Méda, #DemocratizingWork core group member, denounces the erosion of France’s social democracy under Emmanuel Macron’s government. She argues that by invoking the Scandinavian model while weakening workers’ rights and collective institutions, Macron has distorted the very notion of démocratie sociale. Méda calls for a renewed political and economic agenda that restores the centrality of social dialogue and democratic participation in the workplace.
This information-sharing tool is meant to disseminate recent research results, debates, and actual progress within and around our global network with Democratizing, Decommodifying, and Decarbonizing Work.
Please share updates from your end. You can share your end of the news about #DemocratizingWork by sending us an email to info@democratizingwork.org.
Onward and upward,
The #DemocratizingWork Core Group,
Julie Battilana, Harvard University, Isabelle Ferreras, FNRS/University of Louvain-Harvard CLJE, Dominique Méda, University of Paris Dauphine PLS,
With Alyssa Battistoni, Barnard College, Julia Cagé, Sciences Po-Paris, Neera Chandhoke, University of Delhi, Lisa Herzog, University of Groningen, Imge Kaya-Sabanci, IE Business School, Madrid, Sara Lafuente Hernandez, University of Brussels-ETUI, Hélène Landemore, Yale University, Flavia Maximo, Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto, Brazil, Pavlina R. Tcherneva, Bard College-Levy Economics Institute