The Good of Workplace Democracy

This book argues for workplace democracy on the grounds that it supports the development of fundamental human goods such as personal autonomy, self-development, and communal solidarity. Workplace democracy is an old, but reinvigorated, idea that business firms should be organized democratically. Many proponents of workplace democracy contend that the organization of business firms should be consistent with the liberal/republican value of equal freedom that animates Western democracies. However, these arguments undersell the idea of workplace democracy by ignoring its significant moral, social, and psychological benefits. This book advances a novel, goods-based argument for workplace democracy. It engages with a wide range of psychological, sociological, and health-related data that point out the importance of the fundamental goods of personal autonomy, communal solidarity, and self-development to the flourishing or well-being of individuals, along with workplace democracy’s ability to provide access to those goods. This is an important justification for workplace democracy that has been largely ignored. The Good of Workplace Democracy is a philosophically rigorous, but empirically informed, book that approaches workplace democracy from the perspective of a normative commitment to promote goods fundamental to human well-being or flourishing. It will appeal to researchers and graduate students working in social and political philosophy, business ethics, sociology, organizational psychology, management studies, and economics.