Joyce Rothschild

This scholarly consideration of the issues facing co-operative workplaces is still, for me, one of the most readable introductions to a most pressing question. How, in a society that purports to hold and champion democratic values, can we reorganise the workplace to support those values?

Right from the start, the authors tackle a range of theory on democratic practice. They bring to light what most authors ignore. Firstly, Weber started work on a fourth body of sociological thought driven by the idea of 'value rationality'. The authors fill in the blanks, and also explain the splits in the socialist movement that led to the tensions between co-operativism and Marxism.

Based on well-grounded empirical work, the authors explore the impacts, dilemmas and thought-structures that develop in a workplace where people attempt to create a level playing field and allow an equal voice in decision-making. The insights are as welcome now as they were then. I would welcome another study of this quality given that currently more Americans hold a share in a co-operative than in the US stock market.… (altro)