Democratic Work / Marx, Engels, and Marxisms (PDF)

"This book is an exceptionally rich study that will mark a major intervention in the live discussions on the social and political centrality of work. Cukier investigates the many ways in which democratic life depends on the democratic control of the economy, from workplaces to the economy as a whole."
-Jean-Philippe Deranty, Professor of Philosophy, Macquarie University, Australia. ¿

This book proposes a radical transformation of labour institutions, in order to lay the foundation for the democratization of society rather than capitalist accumulation. Using an empirical analysis of the contemporary world of work, Alexis Cukier examines the democratic meaning of today's critique of work organization and questions the theoretical models (linked to class struggles and to industrial democracy) to conceive of a "democratic work." Considering particular historical experiments (such as cooperatives, self-management, worker's councils) that try to realize democracy at work, this book also analyzes the political issue of "democratic work" in relation to issues such as labour law, feminist struggles and political ecology. Ultimately, this book proposes some institutional paths that could overtake the divide between the rights of the citizens and the rights of the workers, arguing finally: if we really want to radicalize democracy, we should begin with democratizing work.

Alexis Cukier is Associate Professor of Moral and Political Philosophy and member of the research laboratory Métaphysique Allemande et Philosophie Pratique, University of Poitiers, France.