#DemocratizingWork & WageIndicator Foundation Global Workshop Series

26 January 2024 - Enabling Workers to Govern their Work, Isabelle Ferreras (moderator), Antoine Bonnemain, Denise Kasparian, and Michelle Miller

Event Description

While some proposals for democratizing work focus on representative forms of democracy, e.g., board members elected by employees, others focus on the direct involvement of workers on the ground. Skeptics often hold, however, that this is only feasible - if at all - for highly skilled employees. But is this really so, or is it a prejudice based on misguided ideas about meritocracy? What does it take to enable workers to truly participate in the governance of their own work? What frictions must be expected, and how can they be overcome? And what role can other actors (activists, unionists, researchers, etc.) play in enabling work governance by workers?

15 December 2023 - Working Less, Living More, with Fiona Dragstra (moderator), Janna Besamusca, and Jeniffer Nedelsky

Event Description

Work time reduction has become a new policy issue and matter of negotiation between employees and employers. Recent experiments with shorter work weeks have garnered a lot of media attention. One motivation is the need to honor people’s care work and other forms of unpaid work, with some scholars calling for everyone to get engaged in care work. How should one think about such ideas from the perspective not only of employees’ autonomy, but also of society as a whole? Are they feasible for all societies, or are they a luxury that only richer societies can allow themselves? And how do they hang together with suggestions for making both our work and our societies more democratic?

29 September 2023 – Decolonizing Work and Value Creation, with Lisa Herzog (moderator), Flavia Maximo, and Janet Wandia

Event Description

 Western notions of work and value creation are based on theories and imaginaries that have been deeply influenced by colonial practices that exploited natural resources and human labour - many of which continue to this day. How can work and value creation be reconceptualized in ways that avoid these implicit assumptions and allow for the flourishing of workers and the environment alike? How can colonial work practices be made visible and overcome? And what does this mean for imagining the future of work in former colonies but also beyond?