Productive Democracy and the Liberation of Work

* Article: Néo-libération du travail et autogestion. Thomas Coutrot. Pensée 330 4–6:2002 pp.5–20.

URL = https://www.thomascoutrot.fr/wp-content/uploads/tcneolib.pdf

Summary

From the Reading Notes of Michel Bauwens, 2006:

The author notes that, despite a regain in the level of struggles, and a legitimacy crisis of capitalism on a local basis, there is no demand for economic democracy. This despite the growing cognitive sophistication of the new workers. Economic self-government presupposes both a high degree of technological knowledge and civic consciousness. It has also been noted in research that political participation is heavely dependent on work conditions. Autonomy in work creates political passion and is a condition for it.

But this 'liberation-by-management' has been co-extensive with the opening up of the factory to client demands, creating new levels of stress along with cognitive sophistication. In addition, the new mechanisms of control are more exclusively centered around the profit motive, weakening the legitimacy of capitalist domination. Why then has there been no increase in worker demands ? Because of the individualization of careers and control, and because of the generalized feeling of precarity. The confidence in workers' management has in fact eroded. Though precarity is less extensive than generally thought, it is the growing tendency and greatly strengthened by the internal marketization of teams. Project and objectives are constantly re-negotiated.

The two other trends are the individualization of the career evaluations, and the increased demands for mobility, both of which undermine the physical interconnectedness. The strength of the neoliberal regime is that it combines market despotism with the desire for individuation and cooperation of the workers, but it does so by undermining the collective consciousness. However, this does mean that neoliberalism goes uncontested. Social tensions are expelled to society, both negatively in discontent, and positively in the growing aspirations of an educated people. Economic liberalism negates the promises of political liberalism.