Democratizing and Cooperativizing Work: Moving Beyond Crises By Reorganizing Economy
George Cheney, University of Colorado
Marcelo Vieta, University of Toronto
Emi Do, Researcher, Educator, Organizer
Promulgated by an unbridled capitalist system, the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated ongoing planetary crises: continuing environmental degradation, weakening democracies and growing authoritarianism, the rise of precarious work, and increasing inequalities. These crises are felt most acutely by racialized and marginalized peoples across the Global North and South, who make up the majority of “essential workers” so widely discussed during the pandemic. But these crises have also inspired proposals and practices of socio-economic possibility from the affected communities, including prefigurative ways of democratizing and cooperativizing work. This international and interdisciplinary session hosting a diverse panel responds to and engages in critical conversation inspired by two recent co-authored books that tackle these critical issues and document pathways beyond the crises via more democratic and cooperative work and workplaces: Democratize Work: The Case for Reorganizing the Economy (2022, University of Chicago Press) and Cooperatives at Work (2023, Emerald). Simultaneous interpretation. CASC & ANSER organizers.
