Social inequality and the politics of production: Americans' attitudes toward workplace democracy

Workplace democracy, the idea that workers should have a voice at their jobs, has been advocated in the U.S. by both labor and management. An ongoing debate exists about whether it is an appropriate strategy to empower workers and the labor movement or whether it is a managerial tool used to weaken labor. Yet there has been no empirical attempt to investigate this cross-class support. Furthermore, workplace democracy is rarely discussed vis-à-vis race and gender. Women and people of color are the most subordinated in contemporary workplaces and stand to gain the most.; This project is an analysis of Americans' attitudes toward three forms of workplace democracy. National survey data from 1991 are employed to investigate the relationship between the bases of social inequality under contemporary capitalism and this alternative which potentially ameliorates workplace inequality. Race, class, and gender are hypothesized to be major determinants of attitudes toward workplace democracy.; Numerous indicators of class position are examined and the class criteria which tap into production relations are most salient. A more holistic class location analysis demonstrates that there is substantial cross-class support for workplace democracy. Class-related political ideology and class experience are also tested and the latter is strongest. The results suggest that existing corporate participation programs are largely successful in management's eyes. However, there are contradictory effects as workers want more control once they get some influence. Dissatisfied workers and union members with strike experience are particularly supportive.; The interaction effects of race, class, and gender are also investigated. Women of color are consistently most supportive of workplace democracy. Male managers are clearly least supportive, regardless of race. Last, social movement hypotheses are tested in order to explore the relationship between attitudes and action. Several findings suggest that the most supportive are most likely to act.; In the conclusion it is suggested that unions should push for democratization of the workplace while being critical of the limited managerial efforts. Union presence is crucial and workplace democracy may be most immediately feasible in the public sector. In addition to oppositional struggles, labor should support and experiment with community-based alternatives.