Content area
Full Text
ABSTRACT
In different political theories, democracy is not reduced to state institutions, but includes the democratization of the whole society, its organizations and enterprises. This idea goes back to the beginnings of modern democratic theory and to Jean-Jacques Rousseau's Social Contract. It was adopted by different socialist thinkers, later on by trade unions and, in the 1960s and 70s, by political scientists such as Carole Pateman and other promoters of participatory democracy. According to this tradition, workplace democracy is considered to be necessary for the realization of democratic ideals like individual autonomy, freedom, voice and participation in all relevant questions influencing citizens' lives. Parts of this normative idea were realized by trade union movements and laws, especially in Western European countries. Nevertheless, workplace democracy in the sense of the above-mentioned theories remained far from becoming reality. In the 1990s, the idea was co-opted by organizational development and management studies and underwent a change: Workplace democracy, then mostly operationalized as limited participation, became a managerial tool that should help to increase employees' motivation and efficiency and thereby contribute to entrepreneurial success. In the last few years, however, the original democratic ideal of workplace democracy seems to have been revitalized under conditions of a worldwide economic crisis. This article shows the development and the latest revival of the concept of workplace democracy, and discusses its innovative potential for today's democratic societies.
Keywords: democratic ideal, democratic theory, industrial democracy, quality circles, Total Quality Management, workers' self-management, workplace democracy, WorldBlu
Introduction
In Western societies, the term "democracy" has become a kind of empty signifier in political and public discourse in recent decades (Brown, 2010). Politicians with very differing ideological backgrounds often refer to their own arbitrary concept of what a democracy should be. This conglomeration of meanings is one reason for a rising skepticism among citizens towards democracy as such. At the same time, convincing alternatives and innovative democratic concepts, though existent in academic circles, rarely enter the public sphere. The manifold and sometimes arbitrary interpretations of democracy are the result of a vast and controversial scientific and philosophical debate with highly differentiated theoretical approaches. It seems that almost everything has been said about democracy during the centuries-lasting debates among philosophers and political thinkers. While there might be...