Worker Co-operatives and Democracy (Part 2)
The popular slogan “People before Profit” adopted by worker co-operatives begs the question how people, in this case members of worker co-operatives, can trump profit in a profit-driven economy. The predictable response is that the democratic organization of co-operatives, where decisions are guided by the interests of the members and not exclusively by the imperatives of capital, amply validates the truth of the slogan. But is this so? If the members of a worker co-operative democratically vote to cut their wages during an economic downturn, are they demonstrating their supremacy over capital? How does this decision, albeit arrived at democratically, significantly differ from a boss telling his staff that he regretfully needs to cut their salaries due to a lack of sales? Does collective decision-making become farcical because it is unable to challenge the ultimate power of capital?
The market-based society limits our life choices and we should find ways to subvert its power, for we don’t deserve its manacles. Contrary to the belief that the political arena is primary, I would say that collective projects to achieve egalitarian participation in the economic field are more relevant. Such struggles, which, in reality, are a defense of our humanity, need to be more like sustained and sophisticated guerrilla operations and not like the
The market-based society limits our life choices and we should find ways to subvert its power, for we don’t deserve its manacles. Contrary to the belief that the political arena is primary, I would say that collective projects to achieve egalitarian participation in the economic field are more relevant. Such struggles, which, in reality, are a defense of our humanity, need to be more like sustained and sophisticated guerrilla operations and not like the
