Work autonomy and workplace democracy

The polarization of the goods of work autonomy in the two worlds of work

Dados Bibliográficos

ID9256643
AutoresCannas Kwok (0000-0003-3754-2447, University of Toronto, autor correspondente)
Ano2020
Volume78
Fascículo3
Páginas351-372
Data de publicação2020-07-02
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoReview of Social Economy (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0034-6764 • E-ISSN: 1470-1162
EditoraInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/00346764.2019.1690671
OpenAlexW2991373194
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas7
Referências citadas60

Political theorists have been framing the problems of unfreedom and domination at work as inconsistent with the requirements of political democracy, undermining the democratic potential of the workplace and inducing psychological and status harm. Although these are important insights, political theorists are often unwilling to frame the hierarchical workplace as an issue of distributive justice. This paper, by bringing in the empirical literature on work autonomy, offers a framework to explicate the relationship between freedom at work and the distribution of essential goods at paid work. Through such framework, the paper argues that procedural and substantive freedom at work are essential to the fair distribution of the goods of work. By examining the empirical literature, the paper further argues that there exists a polarization of the goods of work between high-skilled and low-skilled labor, and the polarization offers a pro-tanto justification of workplace democracy for the least advantaged workers

Autonomy · Democracy · Distributive justice · Economic Justice · Economics · Framing (construction) · Harm · Law and economics · Polarization (electrochemistry) · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Employment and Welfare Studies · Labor Movements and Unions · Law · Social Policy and Reform Studies