Workplace democracy, exploitation, and liberalism : Why labor-managed firms are neither exploitative nor illiberal

[Extract] Democratic workplaces or what I call “labor-managed firms” (LMFs) have been supported by a number of theorists who believe they would lead to a more just and wholly good society that better secures equality across social positions, increased democratic engagement, opportunity for meaningful work, and autonomy. For example, Robert Dahl has famously argued that “if democracy is justified in governing the state, then it must also be justified in governing economic enterprises” (Dahl 1985, 111). Carol Gould (1988, 2014) has maintained that workplace democracy is necessary for an equal positive right to self-development (1988)/self-transformation (2014). Those sympathetic to republican thought such as Elizabeth Anderson (2017) and González-Ricoy (2014) have referenced LMFs as a way to protect workers against arbitrary interference. Andrea Veltman (2016) and Ruth Yeoman (2014) think that LMFs are important vehicles in securing the good of meaningful work. LMFs are also attractive to liberal-socialist thinkers including David Miller (1989) and David Schweickart (1996), who, to quote Miller, claim that an economy of LMFs “combine the freedom and efficiency advantages of markets with a more democratic organization of work and more equal distribution of resources” (Miller 1989, 1).