The Past, Present and Possible Futures of Workplace Democracy: Central Dimensions and Empirical Insights

Chris Mathieu ()
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Chris Mathieu: Lund University, Department of Sociology

A chapter in Workplace Democracy, 2026, pp 1-41 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract This chapter provides an introduction to the volume The Past, Present and Possible Futures of Workplace Democracy as well as to current research on workplace democracy by taking up eight fundamental issues regarding workplace democracy and five future challenges or opportunities for developing it. The fundamental issues include: what is workplace democracy (and its relation to other similar concepts)?; how workplace democracy is justified as a basic good or instrumentally; how enfranchisement into the workplace demos operates; the role of unions in workplace democracy; workplace democracy in the public sector; what factors drive the development of workplace democracy?; the demands and rewards of democracy at work; and the differences between autonomy and democracy as forms of worker control. The future challenges and opportunities discussed are: expanding the workplace demos (i.e. who should be brought into workplace democratic processes); AI and digitalisation; the platform and gig economy and its workers; expanding workplace democracy’s field of vision; and how workplace democracy can deliver on the long-debated and hoped for democratisation of society in general.

Keywords: Workplace democracy; Industrial democracy; Organisational democracy; Economic democracy; Participation; Autonomy; Public sector (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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DOI: 10.1007/978-3-032-02774-0_1

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