Workers' self-management
Self-management or workers' self-management (also referred to as labor management, autogestión, workers' control, industrial democracy and producer cooperatives) is a form of management that involves management of an organization by its workers. Self-management is a characteristic of many models of socialism, with proposals for self-management having appeared many times throughout the history of the socialist movement, advocated variously by market socialists, communists and anarchists.[1] There are many variations of self-management. In some variations, all the worker-members manage the enterprise directly through assemblies; in other forms, workers manage indirectly through the appointment of managers through election. Economic theory[edit] An economic system consisting of self-managed enterprises is sometimes referred to as a participatory economy, self-managed economy or cooperative economy. Classical economics[edit] Management science[edit] Political movements[edit] Europe[edit]
Guild socialism
Guild socialism is a political movement advocating workers' control of industry through the medium of trade-related guilds "in an implied contractual relationship with the public".[1] It originated in the United Kingdom and was at its most influential in the first quarter of the 20th century. It was strongly associated with G. D. H. Cole and influenced by the ideas of William Morris. History and development[edit] Guild socialism was partly inspired by the guilds of craftsmen and other skilled workers which had existed in England during the Middle Ages. In 1914, S. The guild socialists "stood for state ownership of industry, combined with ‘workers’ control’ through delegation of authority to national guilds organized internally on democratic lines. Ernst Wigforss—a leading theorist of the Social Democratic Party of Sweden—was also inspired by and stood ideologically close to the ideas of Fabian Society and the guild socialism inspired by people like R. See also[edit] [edit] G.
Can co-operatives crowd out capitalism? -- New Internationalist
In the eyes of the mainstream media and the high priests of the free market, Argentina just doesn’t get it. This past May, the country was savaged by the international business press for nationalizing the Spanish-owned oil company, YPF. Scarcely mentioned was the fact that Argentina’s oil and gas industry was only ‘privatized’ in the late-1990s under pressure from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other hardline enforcers of then fashionable neoliberal economic policies. Like many countries around the world, Argentina’s oil industry used to be state-owned. Back in 2001, the knives were out again. After years of enforced austerity and ‘structural adjustment’ the resource-rich South American country was awash in debt, crippling inflation, staggering unemployment and negative economic growth. Skilled and in control: an Argentine co-op member thins dough for tarts at a recovered bread factory in Buenos Aires. It didn’t happen. It was by no means an easy road. Radical thinkers
"Unsourcing" - does free labour ultimately require free goods too?
Crowdsourcing has been discovered by the corporate sector, The Economist tells us, as a great way to turn consumers into free labour. "Unsourcing", is the McKinsey-speak for the method pioneered by Wikipedia (and adopted by openDemocracy). But what are the system-wide implications of this move? Where will income to buy products come from once products are made by free labour? A bandwagon too far for the management consultants? Or the opportunity to think about the transformative politics necessary to sustain that world? A recent ‘Babbage’ column in The Economist writes about the phenomenon of ‘unsourcing’. “Some of the biggest brands in software, consumer electronics and telecoms have now found a workforce offering expert advice at a fraction of the price of even the cheapest developing nation...it is their customers themselves...." On the employment of crowdsourcing in the interests of profit, Christian Marazzi writes, He adds, “...the increase in profits over the last 30 years...
Should I Work for Free?
December 17 |
Unions aren't to blame for Wisconsin's budget
Posted at 9:36 AM ET, 02/18/2011 By Ezra Klein Let's be clear: Whatever fiscal problems Wisconsin is -- or is not -- facing at the moment, they're not caused by labor unions. That's also true for New Jersey, for Ohio and for the other states. There was no sharp rise in collective bargaining in 2006 and 2007, no major reforms of the country's labor laws, no dramatic change in how unions organize. Blame the banks. Of course, the fact that public-employee pensions didn't cause a meltdown at Lehman Brothers doesn't mean they're not stressing state budgets, and that the pensions they've been promised don't exceed what state budgets seem able to bear. In fact, it particularly doesn't work for what Walker is attempting in Wisconsin. More than half of the lower estimate ($117.2 million) is due to the impact of Special Session Senate Bill 2 (health savings accounts), Assembly Bill 3 (tax deductions/credits for relocated businesses), and Assembly Bill 7 (tax exclusion for new employees).
"Blood diamond" regulation system broken
The recent approval of Zimbabwean diamonds mined from the $800bn Marange fields by the Kimberley Process (KP) chair, the DRC's Mathieu Yamba Lapfa Lambang, has prompted a global "human rights" outcry with KP members such as Canada, the EU, and the US claiming there was "no consensus". Meanwhile, other countries like China (the world's fastest growing diamond consumer market), and India (which cuts and polishes 11 of 12 stones) have all given the green light to Zimbabwe, removing any potential problems of surplus minerals from Marange, which has been described by Zimbabwean Finance Minister Tendai Biti as "the biggest find of alluvial diamonds in the history of mankind". With potential revenues pegged at $1-1.7bn annually, the support of neighbouring governments like South Africa, another major diamond producer, and "host" country to 3 million Zimbabwean political and economic "refugees", is not surprising. Governments given a free pass No matter. De Beers funds African conflicts
Labor Rights Now!
Foxconn sees latest worker suicide following Chengdu fire｜Economy
The latest suicide by a Foxconn employee brings to thirteen the number of such worker deaths since January last year. Picture: Outside Foxconn's Chengdu plant, the site of an explosion last week. (File Photo/CFP) Nearly a week after an explosion at Foxconn's factory in Chengdu, one of the company's employees jumped to his death from his apartment in the local township of Deyuan. The employee, a 20-year-old whose surname is Hou, committed suicide on Thursday morning (May 26) without specifying the reason, said a person familiar with the matter. The latest death is the thirteenth in a string of suicides among Foxconn employees since the first tragedy was reported on January 23, 2010. Gou traveled to the company's Shenzhen factory in person to handle the twelfth suicide case on May 26 last year, since when the company has raised wages and pledged to improve working conditions to limit the damage to its reputation. References: Foxconn 富士康 Terry Gou 郭台銘
