Original
A Democratic Theory of Labor Unions
Abstract
Recently, political theorists have been increasingly concerned with the implications of democratic values for work. This article contributes to these debates by examining the main vehicle through which workers, historically, have sought democracy at work: the labor union. The article defends a vision of economic democracy that arises from the practice of labor unions. It then emphasizes the distinctive features of labor unions that make them potential vehicles for democracy in other domains. Labor unions are particularly important means of advancing democratic values for three reasons: (1) their ability to appeal to the short- and mid-term self-interest of their members; (2) their anchor in the material reproduction of society; and (3) that they rely on attitudes of cooperation and solidarity among their members. Yet these three features also point to potential limitations of labor unions as laboratories of democracy.
中文
劳动工会的民主理论
摘要
近年来，政治理论家日益关注民主价值对工作的意涵。本文通过考察工人历史上寻求工作场所民主的主要载体——工会——来参与这些辩论。文章捍卫一种源自工会实践的经济民主愿景。随后，文章强调工会的独特特征，这些特征使它们成为在其他领域推进民主的潜在载体。工会是推进民主价值尤为重要的手段，原因有三：(1) 它们能够诉诸其成员短期和中期的自我利益；(2) 它们植根于社会的物质再生产之中；(3) 它们依赖成员之间的合作与团结态度。然而，这三个特征也指向工会作为民主实验室的潜在局限。
关键词
工会、民主理论、经济民主、工作场所民主、劳工、团结、合作、民主价值