#DW #1 NEWSLETTER
You can download the PDF version of the newsletter.
A tool for sharing progress on DemocratizingWork around the globe
In these difficult times, we are sharing with you our new tool aimed at strengthening our #Democratizing Work community. It will serve the dual purpose of information reporting, and dissemination about our own #DW current progress, and amplification of like-minded work and initiatives. We see these 2 moves as keys to getting our community stronger across the globe, and to contributing to a possible democratic and sustainable future for all on this planet.
This is a first, pilot version for our #DW Newsletter!
We hope that you will find this tool useful, and in return, could we ask you to think of sharing the news that you are aware of via this input form? You can always email us at info@democratizingwork.org. Let’s join forces so that we make it truly global and help build a stronger global community of researchers and practitioners devoted to building a democratic and sustainable future via the 3 principles of our #DemocratizingWork Manifesto: democratizing, decommodifying, and decarbonizing work and the planet.
RECENT EVENTS
SEPT 22, SPAIN - European labor ministers summit. The future of work and social dialogue
Our #DW Core Group Member Isabelle Ferreras was invited by the Spanish presidency of the European Union to take part in the high-level meeting, which tackled (the absence of) “Democracy at work.” The event is a historic milestone at the EU level, including hopeful commitments and strong language by labor ministers and EU Social Affairs Commissioner Nicolas Schmit. Here is Isabelle’s report from the event.
SEPT 28, SPAIN - Yolanda Díaz addresses the European Trade Union Confederation Executive Committee
The Vice-President of the Government of Spain and Minister of Labour and the Social Economy, Yolanda Díaz, addressed (Spanish speech here) the ETUC Executive Committee and insisted that democracy at work should fit prominently in the reorientation of the European Union project.
SEPT 28-29, FRANCE - The circulation of ideas and practices regarding workplace democracy in Europe and beyond, from WWII to the present
On this EURODEM international conference (programme here), which took place at the Évry Paris-Saclay University, our #DW Core Group Member Sara Lafuente presented a paper entitled “The conceptual discussion around workplace participation and its implications for EU policy developments”.
OCT 3, TOGO - The African Regional Organisation of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC-Africa) hosted a webinar titled "Military Coups and the Future of Democracy in Africa: Impact and Governance Implications"
This important webinar brought together experts, labor activists and trade unions leaders and representatives to dissect the complex dynamics surrounding military coups in West Africa. Against the backdrop of recent coups across the region, this webinar served as a platform for informed discussions and strategies aimed at promoting democratic resilience, peace, and prosperity in the region.
OCT 5, GEORGIA - Unions Unite for a Just Transition in the Caucasus and Central Asia
IndustriALL affiliates from Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan, met in Tbilisi for a roundtable discussion on the Just Transition in the Caucasus, and Central Asia. The seminar addressed the challenges and opportunities arising from the transition to renewable energy sources and the pressing need for a just and equitable shift in the region.
OCT 5-6, NETHERLANDS - Transforming Ownership in Times of Overlapping Crises
This international conference (programme here) was held at the University of Amsterdam and Utrecht University. #DW Core Group Lisa Herzog and Sara Lafuente participated as speakers on panel 6: “Worker participation”.
OCT 10, UNITED KINGDOM - Justice for Workers: Fairness and the Future of Work
At the Labour Conference, UK #DW National Hub & Common Wealth’ Amelia Horgan and Khem Rogaly discussed with Daniel Chandler about his new book (here), “Free and Equal: What Would a Fair Society Will Look Like?”.
CALL FOR ACTION
ITALY GKN Crowdfunding Campaign Phase 2.
After the first, successful (thanks to YOUR SUPPORT!), crowdfunding phase last spring, exceeding 175.000 euros in a month, the reindustrialization-from-below path, is taking another step forward: the launch of a new popular shareholding campaign, called 100 x 10.000. The goal is to find 10.000 persons who will chip in 100 euros in order to reach a 1 million euros “solidarity shareholding package”. This call is addressed to all citizens, associations, social movements, workers, and trade union delegates who will then become part of the cooperative's assembly, exercising social control over the reindustrialization process from an ecological perspective. Please consider support this new crowdfunding campaign in which the #DW Italy National Chapter is fully involved.
NEW BOOKS OUT
Hé Patron! Pour une révolution dans l’entreprise, by Miranda Richmond Mouillot, David Hackett, Isabelle Ferreras and Team Endicott. Our very own #DW core group members, Isabelle Ferreras and Hélène Landemore, have worked for 8 years to produce this original book: it is a graphic novel -out first in French, at Seuil, Paris - which hopes to help bring the topic of the democratization of firms squarely into the public debate. It is full of jokes and extremely well-informed! If you read French, please find out about the book, join launch events in France and Belgium, and consider using it as a fun (yes, it’s fun!) teaching tool with your students.
Transformative ideas - ensuring a just share of progress for all, edited by Kalina Arabadjieva, Nicola Countouris, Bianca Luna Fabris and Wouter Zwysen, from the European Trade Union Institute. This edited volume explores the need for a transformative approach to envisioning a just social and economic model. A cross-disciplinary team of academic experts was formed to develop this approach, with the aim of proposing concrete policy ideas that are transformative. Job Guarantee and Democracy at work are discussed in this book.
Downloadable PDF version here. The book launch took place on October 5 in Brussels. Olivier De Schutter and Rania Antonopoulos discussed the Job Guarantee and Isabelle Ferreras Democracy at work, and their link to decarbonizing the planet. Recording of the event is available here.
Wealth Supremacy, by Marjorie Kelly. This bold book exposes seven myths underlying wealth supremacy, the bias that institutionalizes infinite extraction of wealth by and for the wealthy, and is the hidden force behind economic injustice, the climate crisis, and so many other problems of our day.
Enfrentando o Antropoceno, by Ian Angus. On Wednesday, October 11, took place the Portuguese launch of the book “Facing Anthropocene”, by the Canadian author Ian Angus. The discussion tackling the need to moving beyond capitalism in the age of Anthropocene included in Brazil Ana Rüsche, Alexandre Araújo Costa, Ingrid Sateré Mawé and Murillo van der Laan, mediation by Laura Luedy.
The Lost Cause, by Cory Doctorow. A fiction writing plausibly imagining a near future in which catastrophic climate change has made multiple coastal cities around the world uninhabitable. This gripping story includes the proposal of a Job Guarantee as a main tool to combat the challenges faced by humanity.
#DW IN THE NEWS
We are very excited to share the news that Ana Virginia Moreira was recently appointed ILO Assistant Director-General and Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean. Ana Virginia co-edited “O Manifesto du Trabalho'' the Brazilian version of #DW collective volume, Democratize Work. Congratulations Ana Virginia!
Isabelle Ferreras has started a new monthly column requested by Harvard Business Review France. She has been invited to write about the challenges involved in democratizing firms. You can read the column (in French) in open access here.
UK #DW National Chapter, Common Wealth’s Amelia Horgan interviewed Isabelle Ferreras (interview here) about the firm, democratising work, and feminism: « What is fundamentally undemocratic is that those who are governed by the rules and decisions of the organisation — of the firm — are not in a position to consent. This is a situation in which workers are alienated and cannot consent. And, of course, the threshold of a democratic government is when those who are ruled can consent. »
Dominique Méda writes in Le Monde about the responsibility of business companies to decarbonize and their current inaction to halt climate change. This exciting article is available in French here.
Mathew Lawrence, director of Common Wealth, from the UK #DW National Chapter, spoke to BBC Radio 5 live about Rishi Sunak's weakening of net-zero targets and why delay will mean higher energy bills and missed opportunities to decarbonize and secure the industries of the future. Broadcasting available here.
Isabelle Ferreras was invited to RTBF's program Le 1/4h Eco to discuss the release of their latest book Hé Patron! The 13-minute broadcast is available here.
The Belgian first economic newspaper, L’Echo, ran a three-page special issue on “Is Democracy at the firm-level possible?” Read the article by Benoît Mathieu here.
We noted this remarkable piece in the Financial Times about the centrality of workers in governing the future: “Workers could be the one regulating AI.” As tech titans and lawmakers claim legitimacy to govern the future, the Hollywood writers’ strike has shown how employees can set the rules, says the Financial Times’ Rana Foroohar.
SAVE THE DATES
MEXICO October 23-27, Global Summit on Diamond Open Access.
The Autonomous University of the State of Mexico (UAEMéx), headquarters of Redalyc, the Network of Scientific Journals from Latin America and the Caribbean, Spain and Portugal, will be the host for the Diamond Global Summit on Open Access. The Summit purpose is to implement collective action in the spirit of UNESCO's open science recommendations, with the conviction that the model of science as a common and public good, where scientific communication and publication does not seek profit and is in the hands of the academy, is a better solution to achieve a sustainable, inclusive and a democratic scientific ecosystem. The Summit will bring together the editors of Diamond Open Access journals, organizations, activists and experts from all continents.
ITALY November 3-5, Un Mondo in Convergenza.
Three-day event organized by Banca Etica Firenze, Collettivo di Fabbrica, Lavoratori GKN Firenze, Fuorimercato and #DemocratizingWork Italian National Chapter to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Banca Etica Firenze, which is the main partner of the reindustrialisation project of GKN. More information to join these events if you are in Italy or around!
NETHERLANDS November 9-10, It Ain’t Working: A Workshop on Alternative Approaches to Work.
One key lesson from the global Covid pandemic is that we need to reimagine the way our societies organize work. However, it raises crucial questions: What is work? Who counts as a worker? How can labour retain its social value and its fulfilling potential for individuals? How should work be organized so that it is compatible with the requirements of democracy, sustainability, and freedom? International workshop co-organized by #DW core group member Lisa Herzog, with a keynote by Rahel Jaeggi. See all the information here.
Our #DW Global Workshop Series Continues
NOW AVAILABLE: The recording of the inaugural workshop of our WI-#DW Global Workshop Series is available below and on our YouTube channel.
ONLINE December 1st, Join us to our second #DW-WI Global Workshop: “Working less, living more?”. Visit our webpage for the upcoming information.
And so much more hopeful developments happening around the globe!
Please remember to share your end of the news about #DemocratizingWork through filling out our form available here and via our website dedicated page.
Lots of courage and good energy to you all!
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, Flavia Maximo, Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto, Brazil, Pavlina R. Tcherneva, Bard College-OSUN-Levy Institute.