Socialist Arguments for Industrial Democracy

Abstract

This article examines the arguments advanced by socialism to support industrial democracy. Three forms of argument are identified: the efficiency argument, the political argument and the moral argument. The first claims that participation increases industrial efficiency; the second argues that the equivalence of the industrial and political realms provides a case for democracy at work; and the third suggests that there are first principles from which the case for industrial democracy can be derived. The contention of this paper is that the first two arguments do not necessarily support the ends towards which they are directed. The third argument asks us to treat work as an expression of human creativity and as a source of freedom. It is this claim that seems to provide the strongest defence of industrial democracy, despite the obvious problems that accompany it.