The Economic Precondition of Voice: How a Universal Basic Income (UBI) Can Promote Workplace Democracy

Larry Liu ()
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Larry Liu: Morgan State University, Department of Sociology and Anthropology

A chapter in Workplace Democracy, 2026, pp 115-134 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract Researchers in workplace democracy have posed the question whether it is feasible to give participatory rights to workers within a capitalist framework in which workers are fundamentally powerless and the owners of capital control the resources and act arbitrarily and coercively. Increasing worker influence presupposes a solution to the power imbalances that exist between employers and employees. This power imbalance can be called the power of the sack. Workers without escape options have to fear becoming unemployed if they are exerting too much voice in their workplace. This chapter makes the theoretical argument that workplace democracy can be advanced with the introduction of a universal basic income (UBI). A guaranteed income would act like a permanent strike fund and thereby promote workplace democracy.

Keywords: Workplace democracy; Power of the sack; Unemployment; Universal basic income; UBI; Guaranteed income; Social policy; Strike fund (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:sprchp:978-3-032-02774-0_5

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DOI: 10.1007/978-3-032-02774-0_5

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