#DW Newsletter #4
January - February 2024
You can download the PDF version of the newsletter.
We are glad to share our fourth #DemocratizingWork newsletter, and the first one in 2024!
We hope that you find this tool useful, and in return, could we ask you to share the news you are aware of via this input form?
You can always email us at info@democratizingwork.org. Let’s join forces to make it truly global and help build a stronger global community of researchers and practitioners devoted to building a democratic and sustainable future.
RECENT HIGHLIGHTS
How Capitalism Deforms the Logic of Work – and How to Reclaim It
Our Core Group member, Lisa Herzog, has recently published an article on Post-Neoliberalism, a plateform for discussing pathways for transformative economics and politics offered by Economic Democracy Initiative (EDI). In this article, Herzog reflects on how work can be a source of identity and meaning, and empowering people to be self-confident citizens. This can happen only if work is subject not to the logic of capitalism, but to the logic of democracy. Herzog articulates in this piece the need for strong social protections, a guarantee of employment, and democracy in the workplace, as a way to counteract the pressures of competitiveness and profitability that damage our relationship with work, infusing it with precariousness and inequality. The article is available here.
Yolanda Díaz busca un modelo a la alemana para que los empleados entren en los consejos de administración
En una nota publicada en El Independiente, la vicepresidenta segunda y ministra de Trabajo y Economía Social, Yolanda Díaz, ha situado la “democratizacion de la estructura empresarial” como “una de las reformas más importantes”. Sara Lafuente-Hernández, miembro del #DW Core Group, ha contribuido intensamente en el debate en España, siendo entrevistada en el artículo: "La cogestión ha tenido escaso, en ocasiones problemático, recorrido en España. Sin embargo, la experiencia en otros países europeos puede arrojar luz y revelar el alcance democratizador y posibles límites de esta forma de intervención”. Lea el artículo completo aquí.
Dominique Méda, Membre du #DW Core Group, a démarré une série de chroniques pour la radio France culture. Cette passionnante série est consacrée à l'Europe, en particulier à l’Europe sociale et compte déjà quatre épisodes disponibles qui reviennent sur une histoire qui pose les jalons des possibilités de démocratiser, démarchandiser et dépolluer le travail en Europe, ou non, aujourd’hui. La série s’intitule « L’Europe Sociale est-elle un mythe? » et les épisodes sont disponibles ici.
Harvard Trade Union Program - Becoming Effective Changemakers
Julie Battilana, #DW Core Group member, taught a session on Becoming Effective Changemakers to a large group of union activists and leaders this January with the aim of enabling them to better understand the fundamentals of power, and along the way debunked common myths surrounding it and revealed how to harness power for positive impact in these leaders’ personal and professional lives, and more broadly in society. By explaining what power is and what it is not, as well as how to identify one’s own sources of power, her presentation helped those who are at the forefront of efforts to increase workers’ control over their working lives, understand and navigate power in their relationships, organizations and society. The talk was part of a 6-week executive program at Harvard called the Harvard Trade Union Program, which since 1942 has helped prepare union leaders develop keener analytical, managerial and problem solving skills as well as discover ways to deepen public understanding of the value and importance of labor unions. Graduates of the Harvard Trade Union Program hold leadership positions at every level from their local to international level, in all unions from public sector to trades, in the United States and around the world, which makes it a wonderful avenue for making the international labor community aware of the Democratize Work initiative and the core tenets at its heart. It is hosted at the Center for Labor and a Just Economy at Harvard Law School.
Dominique Méda a publié une chronique à ne pas manquer dans le journal Le Monde. Cette chronique porte sur le lien entre capacité politique de l’Union européenne à réguler le marché du travail en avançant sur la proposition d’une garantie d’emploi et la lutte contre la montée de l’extrême droite : « Confirmer le tournant social de l’Union européenne est la meilleure manière de rendre moins attractifs les discours de l’extrême droite » est disponible (en français) ici.
PAST EVENTS
JAN 16, FRANCE - Ecole des Mines - Paris - Agora DODES Dynamiques et Organisations de la Démocratie Économique et Sociale
Le 16 janvier a eu lieu le lancement de la communauté de l'Agora D.O.D.E.S. au cours d'une journée de rencontres, débats, recherches et réflexions, intitulée "Explorer la Démocratie en Entreprise" et réunissant une 40aine de personnes à l’École des Mines de Paris. Les videos de deux tables rondes de la journée sont disponibles en ligne : "Changer l'entreprise pour changer le monde : l'entreprise comme un outil politique” et “Formes et pratiques de démocratisation : la démocratie comme un outil productif”. L'Agora D.O.D.E.S. - Dynamiques et Organisations de la Démocratie Économique et Sociale - est une communauté réunissant des praticien.ne.s et chercheur.se.s autour du thème de la démocratisation des organisations avec pour objectif de partager, créer et expérimenter des pratiques et connaissances, de travailler collectivement et de donner à voir, tant au "grand public" qu'aux organisations et à la sphère politique (dont partenaires sociaux, institutionnels, etc.). La communauté est composée d'entreprises de plus ou moins grande taille, avec des statuts variés, d'associations, d'institutions, et de chercheurs issus de multiples disciplines. Des partenaires et financeurs pour intégrer la communauté, participer aux projets collectifs et soutenir les réalisations communes de l'Agora D.O.D.E.S. sont toujours les bienvenu.e.s. Pour en savoir plus, contactez Corentin Gombert.
JAN 25, 2024, ITALY - Bologna - The Legacy of SaGa Coffee: Between Community Mobilization and Global Flows
On Thursday 25th January in Bologna (Italy), the Fondazione per l’Innovazione Urbana hosted the conference The legacy of SaGa. In November 2021, SaeCo (a small enterprise based in Gaggio Montano, a village located in the Apennines near Bologna), announced its closing and the consequent dismissal of its 220 employees, mainly women. Both labor unions and local communities responded with a widespread mobilization that eventually brought to the signing of an agreement to revitalize the production and prevent job loss. In order to allow a deep and widespread understanding of the impacts of this mobilization, the Municipality of Bologna, the Foundation and the two main Italian labor unions (Fiom-Cgil and Fim-Cisl), promoted a Social Inquiry (Inchiesta Sociale) in Gaggio Montano between November 2022 and November 2023. The conference The legacy of SaGa represented an opportunity to discuss both the results of the Inquiry and the political, social, environmental, and gender-based implications of this collective experience, opening up a public debate among researchers, activists, institutions and union representatives. See more information here.
JAN 25-26, 2024, SPAIN - Universitat de Barcelona - “Democratize Work? Actors, cultures and models. Past and present” ¿Democratizar las empresas? Actores y espacios de participación. Pasado y presente
This conference, hosted by La Fundació Universitària Agustí Pedro i Pons of the University of Barcelona and organized by the Centre d'Estudis Històrics Internacionals of the University of Barcelona, featured three main sessions: an academic session with international speakers, followed by two sessions focused on the dialogue between the main local actors in labor relations: one with trade union representatives and a representative of the employers of the railway and banking sectors, and a representative of the employers of the railway and banking sectors, discussing the practice of democracy at work at the company level, and another with a representative of the Spanish Ministry and the Secretary General of CCOO Catalunya, closing the event with perspectives and prospects for trade union and legislative policy. This event was organized given the high expectations raised by the Spanish government after it expressed its intention to legislate on worker participation, including worker representation at board level, in line with Article 129.2 of the Spanish Constitution. The discussions were part of a kick-off meeting for a possible European project to be presented, which already has a strong network of partners from Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Germany, both from academia and civil society. See all the information here.
FEB 02, 2024, USA - Harvard Law School - Democratizing Work: Politics, Philosophy, and Practice
Co-hosted by the Center for Labor and a Just Economy at Harvard Law School and the Edmond & Lily Safra Center for Ethics at Harvard University, chaired by Sharon Block (Harvard CLJE), with participation of Julie Battilana (Harvard, #DW Core Group member), Alex Gourevitch (Brown University), an expert on thephilosophy and intellectual history of work, who is currently writing a book about the right to strike, will enter in conversation with Lisa Herzog (Groningen University, #DW Core Group member). Topics included the relation between strike and institutions for democratizing work, the democratization of different types of work, and the importance of a democratic culture in organizations. The recording is available here.
FEB 17, 2024, ITALY - Banca Etica in festa
The event was organized by Banca Etica along with ARCI, the Factory Collective of the former GKN workers, #DemocratizingWork, Fridays for Future, Extinction Rebellion,and Ultima Generazione, and takes its cue from the celebration of the 21st anniversary of the Florence branch to trace a timeline from the 2002 Social Forum to today's social struggles for the right to work and climate justice. This event brought together actors who, from different perspectives, organize and struggle to build a society in which work is dignity, democracy, emancipation, and respect for the environment. More information is available here.
CALL FOR SUPPORT
Support to ITALY GKN Crowdfunding Campaign Phase 2.
The GFF cooperative issued its first solidarity shareholding package of shares worth one million euros. The first phase of the 100 x 10.000 campaign to involve civil society in the cooperative begins. Reindustrialization from below is moving forward! Please continue to support this crowdfunding campaign in which the #DemocratizingWork Italia, the National Chapter of #DW in Italy, is fully involved. This call for action is addressed to all citizens, associations, social movements, workers, and union delegates who will become part of the cooperative's assembly, exercising social control over the reindustrialization process from an ecological perspective. All the information is available here.
NEW BOOKS OUT
Overcoming Exploitation and Externalisation An Intersectional Theory of Hegemony and transformation. (Routledge, Oxfordshire) by Friederike Habermann.
Advancing an intersectional theory of hegemony, this book shows how various power relations interact through capitalist structures of othering. Going beyond the usual critiques of capitalism, it analyses the market itself as a principal cause of various forms of externalisation and domination. The book therefore calls for a dismantling of the market and its competitive economic structures through a transformation of the economy from below, greater democratisation (not least for the empowerment of suppressed identities), and the creation of commons as spaces based on inclusion rather than exclusion. In doing so, Overcoming Exploitation and Externalisation argues that co-operative possibilities can emerge for the transformation of ourselves and our society. It will therefore appeal to scholars and students of social and political theory with interests in the commons and alternatives to capitalism.
Faire société malgré les attentats. (Éditions érès, Toulouse) by Vincent de Gaulejac and Isabelle Seret.
Les attentats visent à fracasser la société. Les traumatismes touchent les victimes directes et leurs proches, mais aussi les familles des auteurs, les institutions chargées d’en traiter les conséquences et la société dans son ensemble. Comment restaurer toutes ces fractures ?
Ce livre propose une méthode d’intervention restaurative qui rassemble tous les acteurs concernés et décrit les effets d’un travail en commun sur plusieurs années débouchant sur des actions politiques. Les attentats ont semé la mort, le chaos, l’horreur. Ils ont suscité la sidération et l’indignation. Dans un premier temps il fallait enterrer les morts, soigner les blessures, rechercher les coupables, apaiser la colère, prendre soin des victimes. Ensuite, il nous faut comprendre ce qui nous est arrivé. Qu’est-ce que nous avons fait, ou pas fait, pour en arriver là ? Que pouvons-nous faire pour que cela ne recommence pas ?
Handbook of Research on the Global Political Economy of Work. (Edward Elgar, Cheltenham/Massachusetts) Edited by Maurizio Atzeni, Dario Azzellini, Alessandra Mezzadri, Phoebe Moore, and Ursula Apitzsch.
This important Handbook broadens empirical and theoretical understandings of work, work relations, and workers. It advances a global, intersectional labour studies agenda, laying the foundations for the politically emancipatory project of decolonising the political economy of work. Moving beyond traditional disciplinary boundaries, this Handbook provides a comprehensive account of the relations between different forms of work, exploitation, class configuration and worker resistance. With insights from global experts across the social sciences, it examines changes in technology, geographies of production, and the dynamics of the global capitalist political economy to map modern configurations of work. Using ongoing empirical qualitative research, contributors explore key issues such as capital accumulation, migration, digital work, trade unionism and reproductive labour. There is a particular focus on perspectives from the Global South, with in-depth analyses of class and work in countries and regional economic blocs used to explore the dynamics between the local and the global.
NEWS FROM AROUND OUR NETWORK
The Brazilian Supreme Court about to ruling on the employment relationships in digital platforms
The Brazilian Supreme Court is about to discuss a case that will severely impact labor rights in the country. At the end of February 2024, the full court is scheduled to rule on the existence of employment relationships in digital platforms. According to recent Supreme Court rulings, statements by its judges, and press reports, the willingness of the judges is to issue a ruling with binding effect for all judges in Brazil, who would be prevented from recognizing the existence of an employment relationship in platform work - whatever the platform, whatever the economic sector in which the company operates and whatever the control it exercises over its workers. Unions, academics, and networks of labor are mobilizing to prevent this from happening and have launched a manifesto. We hope you can join and sign the petition.
Call for Papers · Kin City · Urban Ecologies, Cities as Factories, and Internationalism
The Call for Papers is aimed at researchers, activists and cultural workers, who, in theory or practice, are engaged in emancipatory struggles, and seeks to forge links between them by interweaving urban and ecological issues within an expanded internationalist framework, taking into account class, decolonial and migration issues. The “Kin City” project will focus on the following five thematic strands and the BG calls for submissions related to at least one of these areas: Privatization vs. commoning of access to essential urban resources (from housing to water), Environmental and climate (in-)justice in cities, Updating working-class environmentalism in the city as factory, What does it mean to decolonize urban metabolisms? Cities as centers of (“green”) resource and energy coloniality, Escaping from or to the metropolis? The climate crisis as cause/driver of displacement and flight and the role of cities in this context. See all the information here.
SAVE THE DATES
FLAME University, Pune, INDIA, 21-23 March 2024, International Conference on Corporate Social Responsibility and Decent Work in the era of Sustainable Development Goals
FLAME University and WageIndicator are co-hosting the International Conference on Corporate Social Responsibility and Decent Work in the era of Sustainable Development Goals in Pune, India from March 21st - 23rd 2024. The extended abstract submission and registration deadline is March 1st, 2024. See the brochure of the event here.
Our #DW Global Workshop Series Continues
You can watch our latest workshop, which was extremely insightful, on the topic of enabling workers govern their work with Antoine Bonnemain (Lecturer - Maître de Conférences at the University of Clermont Auvergne, France), Denise Kasparian (Assistant Professor and Researcher at University of Buenos Aires and National Scientific and Technical Research Council, Argentina), Michelle Miller (Director of Innovation, Center for Labor and a Just Economy at Harvard Law School), chaired by Isabelle Ferreras (FNRS, University of Louvain, #DW Core group member). The recording is available here.
Stay tuned! You will find dates and programs for the following workshops on the #DemocratizingWork dedicated webpage.
Please remember to share your end of the news about #DemocratizingWork through filling out the form available here and via our website dedicated page.
Peace,
The #DemocratizingWork Core Group:
Julie Battilana, Harvard University, Isabelle Ferreras, University of Louvain/FNRS-Harvard LWP, Royal Academy of Belgium, Dominique Méda, University of Paris Dauphine PLS,
With Alyssa Battistoni, Barnard College, Adelle Blackett, McGill University, 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, Flávia Máximo, Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto, Brazil, Pavlina R. Tcherneva, Bard College-OSUN-Levy Institute.