Newsletter #5 - MARCH - MAY 2024

#DW Newsletter #5

March - May 2024

The DemocratizingWork Manifesto,
released 4 years ago!

Dear signatories of the #DemocratizingWork Manifesto,
Dear Isabelle Ferreras,

On May 16, 2020, the #DemocratizingWork Manifesto was released. That’s 4 years ago! The op-ed Work: Democratize, Decommodify, Remediate has been signed by more than 7,000 researchers from more than 750 universities and academic institutions around the world, and was published in more than 43 newspapers, in 27 languages, in 36 countries. Recognizing our responsibility to sustain this much-needed discussion, we assembled a core group of 13 women scholars to lead this effort.

Since then, we have released an edited volume, published in French, in Portuguese, in Italian, in English, in Dutch. These books have generated lots of public discussion, media attention and social impact. The book will be out in German this fall, and in Turkish next winter. In 2021, we organized the first-ever Global Forum on Democratizing Work: over 3 days devoted to discussing the 3 principles with more than 3000 attendees from 85 countries in conversation with 387 speakers, 16 national chapters, 129 panels in 9 languages. Together, we launched the #DemocratizingWork Global Workshop Series, in 2022-23, held again in 2023-24 to support that discussion worldwide; at the same time, some national chapters have started to develop with impressive energy, for example in the United-Kingdom or Italy. Many of you have been involved with these developments!

It is truly encouraging to see the progress made. Our efforts to combine the 3 principles of Democratizing, Decommodifying, and Decarbonizing in, at and around work are making a difference. To cite two recent examples of large-scale policy impact: last November a unanimous declaration was signed by the European Union’s Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council of Ministers on more democracy at work, in connection with the challenges posed by climate change and artificial intelligence; last June, a UN Special Report on the Job Guarantee was released as a tool in the fight against poverty at the United Nations General Assembly.

While the focus in covid-19 is behind us, current conditions are adverse: the planet is on fire, becoming less habitable by the day ; democracy is under threat, brothers and sisters across the globe are in harms’ way, victims of wars and violence ; labor unions are under attack in so many countries around the globe ; students and woman are taking great personal risks to peacefully express solidarity, to resist oppression or to demand the end of war. We know that progress is never achieved without collective efforts. More than ever, together, we are working to provide knowledge and research in order to equip the world to practice the joint principles of Democratizing, Decommodifying, and Decarbonizing Work. Our hope is that together, we can help nurture a future that is democratic and sustainable for everyone on the planet.

There are more battles ahead, but as for now, let us share some of the recent steps forward, in the latest 2-month period. Remember the information-sharing tool we initiated last October in order to disseminate recent progress within and around our network with Democratizing, Decommodifying, and Decarbonizing Work around the globe! Please consider it yours, and share updates from your end.

The #DW Global Workshop Series Continues

ONLINE June 7, please join us to continue the global conversation at our next #DW-WI Global Workshop: “Circular economy, circular work?”

The idea of a “circular economy” aims at reducing the use of natural resources by considering products from “cradle to cradle”, making the recycling and reuse of materials a basic principle of economic life. It is connected to the turn away from economic growth, traditionally understood, as aim of the economy, as discussed in the “degrowth” or “post growth” literature. What do these new models mean for work? Can work also be “circular”? What can one learn from non-traditional economic models, such as alternative forms of agriculture, about work that has left the growth mindset? Can work in a post growth world still allow for personal growth and development, and how could a transition to such forms of work take place in different economic, cultural, and political contexts?

Speakers will include

Frithjof Laubinger, environmental economist, OECD
Martin Kuhlmann, labor sociologist, SOFI Research Institute, Göttingen
Wairimu Mwangi, circular economy expert

This global workshop will be chaired by our #DW Core Group member, Lisa Herzog.

Please join us for this final workshop of the academic year 2023-24. Watch the recordings of past workshops via the #DemocratizingWork dedicated webpage.

IN THE NEWS

European Union - Important milestones took place at the level of the European Union toward democratizing work, through the Platform Work Directive with provisions that will help platform workers claiming reclassification and a major breakthrough vis-a-vis algorithmic management which introduces rights for persons performing platform work, thus including self-employed workers, to receive adequate information about the algorithms used to hire, monitor and discipline them. The scope of this imperative of transparency is wide: read the full comment about the Directive by Antonio Aloisi and Valerio De Stefano in Social Europe. A significant step forward toward decommodifying labor is also taking place at the EU level with the announcement of new programme supported by the Social Fund Programme in order to support experimentation with a Job Guarantee at local level. Get in touch if you have an interest in that initiative.

France - In an op-ed in Le Monde, former union leaders call for a revolution in corporate governance, more in tune with society, in order to negotiate the energy and ecological transitions needed in industrialized countries. Workers have to be able to defend their own views about: "What do we produce? And how do we produce it?" Read their op-ed making the case for a French version of codetermination.

USA - In the context of distrust at OpenAI, Julie Battilana and Anne-Claire Pache’s research on hybrid board governance found that organizations that successfully pursued both social and commercial objectives had boards who systematically incorporated the perspectives of organizational leadership. Read about their findings in Le Monde and Stanford Social Innovation Review.

Spain - The Spanish Congress recently rejected a non-legislative proposal on democracy at work and worker-participation rights, which called on the government to adopt legislation ensuring trade-union representation on company boards. Sara Lafuente commented on the specifics of the political activity going on in Spain around getting workers’ representatives on board, and what it will take for the labor minister Yolanda Diaz to get things done. Read her op-ed in Social Europe.

RECENT EVENTS

MARCH: ETUI Event ‘Trade union experiments of democracy at work in Europe: a strategic potential for union revitalisation?’

The event facilitated exchange about innovative experiments with democratization beyond traditional representative channels of workers’ voice. In light of the ETUC initiatives to foster democracy at work in a context of overlapping crises, the event took stock of how national trade union organizations envision and support actions to democratize the workplace in their internal policies. Experiments in democratization carried out by grassroots union activists also were at focus, as they contribute to building a ‘bottom-up’ democracy at work narrative and real practice. Mapping and discussing these initiatives together in a multi-level setting aimed to support cross-learning and inspire unionists to work outside their usual scope of action and comfort zones. Here is the programme: Trade union experiments of democracy at work in Europe: a strategic potential for union revitalisation?

APRIL: VR Trade union in Iceland meeting on Democracy at Work

The largest Icelandic union, VR, representing workers in the commerce sector (the Commerce Federation is the largest within the Icelandic Confederation of Labour, which in turn belongs to the Council of Nordic Unions) organised a meeting to launch a debate on democracy at work in Iceland. At the meeting, Isabelle Schömann, Deputy General Secretary of the ETUC, Sara Lafuente, researcher at ETUI and member of the #DW core group, and Richard Wolff, professor of economics and founder of Democracy at work, held a discussion about the topic and the future aims of the trade union movement. The Icelandic labour unions and federations were invited, as well as all political parties represented in the Icelandic Parliament. The meeting resulted in a union resolution to firmly put workers’ real involvement in corporate decision-making in the agenda, to ensure justice for the working people. It’s time for Iceland! Read the full Resolution: Democracy at work is long overdue.

APRIL: Julie Battilana awarded a Honorary Degree from the Louvain School of Management, Belgium, for her outstanding academic leadership in rethinking firms as hybrid organizations, and efforts to democratizing work.

Read from Julie Battilana’s acceptance Nous nous trouvons aujourd’hui à un carrefour : nous pouvons soit continuer comme si de rien n’était et reproduire le modèle existant ou bien nous pouvons oser repenser et réformer nos systèmes économiques et sociaux. […] Dans ce contexte, l’étude des organisations est plus que jamais clef car elles sont au cœur de nos sociétés et y façonnent nos vies et nos comportements au quotidien. […] C’est cette même volonté qui m’a poussé à lancer avec Isabelle Ferreras et Dominique Méda l’initiative internationale « Democratizing Work » qui met en avant trois enjeux clés pour le futur du travail à savoir le besoin de démocratiser les organisations, de démarchandiser le travail et de dépolluer la planète.”
Julie also presented her recent and ongoing research to faculty and students at the University of Louvain Research Institute in Management and Organizations (LouRIM).

APRIL: Online book launch "Democratizing the Corporation: The Bicameral Firm and Beyond"

The new book in the Real Utopias Project series was released: Democratizing the Corporation: The Bicameral Firm and Beyond. (Verso, New York City/London) Edited by Isabelle Ferreras, Tom Malleson and Joel Rogers. Forthcoming March 2024.

You can watch the recording of the online event, with remarks from editors and contributors, Tom Malleson, Isabelle Ferreras, Sanjay Pinto, Marc Fleurbaey, Joel Rogers and Gustaf Arrhenius.

The book discuss Isabelle Ferreras’ proposal to democratize the private firm. The proposal includes all large firms be bicamerally governed, with a chamber of worker representatives sharing equal governance power with the standard board representing capital investors. In response to the proposal, twelve leading experts on corporate behavior from multiple disciplines consider its attractiveness, viability, and achievability as a “real utopian” proposal to strengthen democracy in our time. This institutional proposal represents a practical translation of the principle of the #DemocratizingWork Manifesto: "the collective right for workers to validate or veto the firm’s decisions.”

UPDATES from National Chapters

From the UK: launch of a new interactive dashboard about work

On May Day, the Center for Democratising Work of Common Wealth, the UK Chapter for our global network, has officially launched a fantastically informed tool, packed with a trove of data about workers and work in the UK. Please take the time to look at it and use it. From working time to the meaning and quality of work, from union density to the relative power of capital and labor gains, the Centre for Democratising Work Dashboard provides answers to the question: What is work in Britain like? Explore working time, the power of labor, and the quality of work all the dimensions of work with the CDW's interactive data dashboard. Click through the tabs at the top of the page to explore each topic. Thank you to Common Wealth team, in particular Amelia Horgan, Sophie Flinders and Chris Hayes, for offering such splendid work!

From France: a network under formation

After its launch mid January, an intense work of alliance-building across academia and practitioners is taking place in France in order to assemble all the actors pushing for, and practicing the democratization of work. You can read the network May monthly newsletter here, and get in touch if interest to join.

From Italy: Support the GKN Factory Workers Collective

In recent months, the GKN Factory Workers' Collective has been calling for a regional public consortium to step in in order to protect the land where the factory stands. This public consortium would represent the much-needed instrument to implement an ecological transition from the automotive industry to the production of ecologically and socially sustainable technologies while the Factory workers collective has a reindustrialisation plan ready to be launched for which some degree of support from the public authorities is needed. The City Council of Florence has approved a motion in support of the socially integrated factory but the support of the municipalities from the surrounding area is also expected but time is running out.

Early April, the Working Class Literature Festival took place at the factory. 5,000 participants showed their support: the festival was self-financed and solidarity-based, involving 200 volunteers, and writers from all over the world came. QF, the current owner of the GKN facility, threatened to sue the participants if they met on their property. In the days leading up to the event, the entire electrical system was sabotaged. It was an act planned down to the last detail, and clear attempt at intimidation. Still, international solidarity showed its most hopeful face: activists from the international climate movement traveled thousands of kilometers all the way from Germany to offer 20 photovoltaic panels. GKN workers managed to 'customise' them and in no time, the Literature Festival started to run on solar energy. Onward to democratize work, decommodify labor and decarbonize the economy! In order to continue to support their struggle, and dialogue with the GKN workers, a workshop was organized at the Scuola Nove Superior in Florence with the participation of #DW core group member, Dominique Méda. Dominique explored the deep connections between the #DemocratizingWork Manifesto and the workers’ struggle.

CALL FOR ACTION

Support to Argentina’s workers and cooperatives: Here is a request for international solidarity from Argentina’s cooperators and workers. The right-wing government of Argentina recently announced several damaging moves to shutdown over 11,000 cooperatives in the country. Cooperators and workers in Argentina have been mobilizing to prevent these closures. Please sign this open letter, collaboratively written and endorsed by the International Workers’ Economy Gathering/Encuentro de la Economía de Las/Los Trabajadoras/es, in support of Argentina’s more than 24,000 cooperatives that have been providing good and decent jobs to tens of thousands of Argentines.

Call for Papers

Special issue: Pasts and presents of domination and resistance: democracy, human rights and peace in Latin America and the Caribbean in Journal Tramas y Redes - Revista del Consejo Latinoamericano de Ciencias Sociales.

In this issue, Tramas y Redes intends to publish academic production studying collective struggles related to democracy, human rights and peace in Latin America and the world. From a position that values democracy and peace, the special issue seeks to illuminate the challenges faced by mobilization for a fair and egalitarian political system.

NEW BOOKS OUT

De toekomst van werk. Van hiërarchie naar democratie (Amsterdam, ISVW Uitgevers, 2024) Lisa Herzog

Digitale technologieën zorgen voor ingrĳpende veranderingen op de werkvloer. Robots en slimme algoritmes nemen steeds meer taken over, terwĳl steeds meer mensen zich zorgen maken over de toekomst van hun werk. Want welke rol speelt de mens daarin nog? En hebben we daar eigenlĳk wel invloed op, of wordt alles door de markt bepaald? In De toekomst van werk betoogt Lisa Herzog dat ons werk veel te belangrĳk is om het door grote techbedrĳven te laten dicteren. In plaats daarvan is het hoog tĳd dat we de toekomst van werk zelf vorm gaan geven. Want juist in het digitale tĳdperk is het mogelĳk ons werk rechtvaardiger en democratischer in te richten dan ooit tevoren.

Designing Democratic Schools and Learning Environments: A Global Perspective (Palgrave Macmillan, Cham). Edited by Linda F. Nathan, Jonathon F. Mendonca, and Gustavo Rojas Ayala (2024). Available Open Access.

This open access book explores democratic schools and learning environments globally. The book focuses on a newly developed framework for democratic education.

The authors describe existing schools and concept schools—those that are ideas but not in operation. The first section includes the editors’ own journeys. Pillar 1 includes schools that emphasize the open flow of ideas and choices, regardless of their popularity. Pillar 2 maintains that it is impossible to have a high quality education that ignores equity. Chapters explore how many diverse ‘marginalized’ communities experience education and some innovations that hold great promise for inclusion. Pillar 3 provides examples of schools where active engagement, consensus and compromise support the ‘common good.’ Pillar 4 investigates schools which organize students, parents, social institutions and the larger community collaboratively to achieve its goals and to solve theirs and society’s most urgent challenges.

Entreprises, osons la démocratie ! (Paris, Presses de l’Ecole des Mines, 2024) Corentin Gombert, préface : Isabelle Ferreras

Un guide pratique de la démocratisation des organisations proposant une relecture de la notion de démocratie en entreprise. S'appuyant sur des recherches auprès de coopératives, Corentin Gombert montre comment organiser démocratiquement l'activité et présente une démarche de conception ainsi que des outils permettant aux travailleurs d'obtenir plus de pouvoir sur les moyens et les fins de leur travail. Avec une préface d’Isabelle Ferreras.

NEWS FROM AROUND OUR NETWORK

National Strike at Universities in Brazil

Since the beginning of March, workers at federal education institutions have been on strike in Brazil, challenging the claim by the government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (Workers Party – PT) that “there is no money” for public education. The strike movement was launched on March 11 by employees of 66 federal universities. It was followed on April 3 by teachers and staff at 522 federal basic, professional, and technological education units and on April 15 by teachers at 31 federal universities. It is the largest strike against the Lula government since his inauguration at the beginning of last year. https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2024/04/27/slcx-a27.html

https://www.brasildefato.com.br/2024/04/29/greve-das-federais-reflete-decada-de-desfinanciamento

DİSK General Assembly: Time to Stand Up

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The 17th Ordinary General Assembly of the Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions of Turkey (DİSK) was held in Istanbul from February 9 to 11, under the slogan "The Labour of the Century, the Century of Labour." In her opening speech, DİSK General President Arzu Çerkezoğlu emphasized the resilience of unity in difficult times: "Sometimes our shoulders may slump in the face of challenges, but every time our shoulders slump, we lean firmly on each other's shoulders and stand up. There is no surrendering to this system of exploitation." Çerkezoğlu added "There can be no republic without labor, without the people, without real democracy. The Republic can be carried into the second century with the sovereignty of the people. The roots of the working class are very strong in these countries; our tradition is very strong." During the general assembly, Arzu Çerkezoğlu was re-elected as the general president of DİSK, while Tayfun Görgün was appointed as the general secretary. It's worth noting that Çerkezoğlu is the first and only female general president in the Turkish trade union movement.

We are delighted to collaborate closely with DISK for the Turkish edition of our collective book, "Democratize Work: The Case for Reorganizing the Economy". It will be on the shelves this fall, including also a chapter from Arzu Çerkezoğlu.

Stay tuned!

WHITE POLICY PAPERS

Announcing a new area of impact work: As a network, we are committed to support a series of white papers to equip policy-makers, union and economic leaders to practically move forward with democratizing work, decommodifying labor and decarbonizing the economy.

To start this off, Julien Pharo and Isabelle Ferreras have drafted a first draft issue, drawing the general lines for a tax plan to incentivize corporations to move toward internal democratization. Please get in touch if you want to discuss it or have ideas.

SAVE THE DATES

Oxford University, May 17: AI, Work and Democracy

The Institute for Ethics in AI and Oxford Martin School are pleased to announce an exclusive morning event featuring a keynote address by economics professor Daron Acemoğlu on May 17, 2024. The event will be hosted at the Oxford Martin School. Ekaterina Hertog, #DW core group member Isabelle Ferreras, Jeremias Adams-Prassl, Daniel Susskind, and Carl Frey, will discuss the keynote.

Leeuwarden, Netherlands, June 3-5: Economy for the Common Good Conference

This conference focuses on just and sustainable economic models, with a focus on regional development. It brings together academics and practitioners. Next to Kate Raworth (Doughnut Economics) and other leader in sustainability studies, our core group member Lisa Herzog will give a keynote on "Democratic principles for a sustainable economy."

Oxford University, May 17: 'AI-Enabled Democracy and Corporate Democratization'

Around the work of professor Joshua Cohen, join us for a full-day workshop with #DW core group members, Hélène Landemore and Isabelle Ferreras, discussing the role of AI in democracy and the new book "Democratizing the Corporation: The Bicameral Firm and Beyond" including the participation of Tom Malleson, Claudia Chwalisz, and Beeban Kidron. Registration here.

University of Vigo, SPAIN, June 18-21, International ESEE - Degrowth Conference 2024 Pontevedra

The 10th International Degrowth Conference and the 15th Conference of the European Society for Ecological Economics (ESEE) will be held in the city of Pontevedra (Galicia, Spain) from 18 – 21 June 2024. This joint conference is part of the “Pontevedra ESEE-Degrowth 2024” activities, which will establish Pontevedra as the European capital of degrowth in 2024.

University of Limerick, IRELAND, June 27-29, SASE Conference

The 2024 Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics (SASE) Annual Conference: "For Dignified and Sustainable Economic Lives: Disrupting the Emotions, Politics, and Technologies of Neoliberalism" emphasizes sources of hope, dignity, and sustainability in economic lives.

New York, USA, June 27-30 ILERA Conference

For more than 50 years, ILERA, the International Labour and Employment Relations Association, has promoted the study – in and across a number of academic disciplines – of labor and employment relations throughout the world. The 20th ILERA World Congress in New York City will continue this impressive tradition and serve as a vital global platform, gathering scholars, social partners, policymakers, and other stakeholders to exchange ideas and best practices.

And so many other developments around the globe…, please share your end of the news about #DemocratizingWork through filling out our form available here and via our website dedicated page.

We wish you lots of strength in this world,

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.