Workshop held on 7-9 June 2023 at the Centre Marc Bloch (Humboldt University Berlin).
Call for Papers until 28 February.
Organization: This workshop is organised within the framework of the research project
“Workplace democracy: a European ideal? Discourses and practices about the democratization of work after 1945 (EUR-DEM)”, led by Stefan Berger (Institute for Social Movements / Ruhr-
University Bochum) and Roberto Frega (Centre Marc Bloch). This project is funded by ANR (Association National de la Recherche) and DFG (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft).
Convenor: Pedro Teixeira (Centre Marc Bloch)
Confirmed keynote speakers: Wolfgang Streeck (Max Planck Institute), Ruth Dukes (University
of Glasgow), Virginia Doellgast (Cornell University)
Description: The goal of democratizing the workplace continues to inform both actual struggles
and intellectual discourses about the sphere of work. However, compared to similar debates held
some decades ago, today’s theoretical landscape concerning workplace democracy is significantly
wider, with a variety of models and practices vying to be seen as the best promoters of a more
democratic workplace. In fact, alongside historically established models such as those of collective
bargaining between employers and trade unions, or the German-based model of co-determination,
other approaches such as those of co-operatives, workers’ self-management, stakeholder
participation, co-management and financial participation schemes (profit sharing, etc.) have been
enjoying greater attention in recent years. Yet, while we now possess a deeper understanding of the
several possible interpretations of workplace democracy, and the concrete practices and
institutional forms these may assume, the question as to how each of these models is to be
integrated into a wider, more comprehensive political economy – including its legal and institutional
frameworks – remains understudied.