Labour Process and Marxist Perspectives on Employee Participation

Abstract

AbstractThis article aims to outline how an apparently positive feature of organizational life can also be considered a focus of concern. It starts with an outline of some of the variations in Marxist and Labour Process debates, along with discussion of those debates within political science that have had most impact on discussions in industrial relations, especially the debate on corporatism. The article then moves to a discussion of critical accounts of the broad notion of participation within capitalist economies at various levels. It explains why forms of worker participation are both the subject of political demands by various constituencies, yet are also a cause of concern in the way they have evolved. Finally, the article outlines some of the challenges facing critical and, in particular, Marxist and Labour Process approaches to the debates on participation.