Is Worker Solidarity Undermined by Autonomy and Participation? Patterns from the Ethnographic Literature

Abstract

Solidarity is workers' chief protection against abusive management as well as a mediating factor against the ravages of meaningless work. Researchers interested in workers' well-being have suggested that increased worker autonomy and participation in the labor process may undermine worker solidarity. Available answers to this question have been difficult to confirm because of the nature of the data required. Ethnographic methods are able to probe deeply inside a workplace to ascertain levels of worker solidarity, autonomy, and participation. However, the uniqueness of each ethnographic account restricts the testing of hypotheses about worker solidarity across a variety of contexts. We analyze English language ethnographic case studies of specific workplaces to systematically explore hypotheses about worker autonomy, participation, and solidarity. We find that autonomy has no effect on worker solidarity and that participation in work groups has a positive effect on at least one aspect of solidarity. We also explore the relationships between other aspects of work and solidarity and offer suggestions forfuture research.