A Transnational History of Workplace Democracy since the Second World War

This edited volume explores the circulation of ideas and practices around workplace democracy throughout Europe, and beyond its borders, from the Second World War to the present day. Its chapters examine the role of different actors in disseminating ideas about workplace democracy, focusing on trade unions, academics, political and governmental actors, and international organisations. In doing so, the authors explore how the circulation of knowledge across countries shaped different actors’ positions. For instance, how did trade unions and other actors’ discourses take academic production into account, and vice versa? How and through which channels did ideas of workplace democracy circulate, including exchanges, study trips, conferences, symposiums, and publications? Which individuals and institutions played the most important role in the circulation of ideas? How did co-determination, self-management, or other ‘models’ influence discussions, proposals, and concrete measures of workplace democracy on both a European and international level? With fifteen chapters addressing these questions, this collection combines insights from historians, political scientists, legal scholars, and philosophers based in Europe, South America, and North America, therefore contributing to a new comparative, transnational, and global history of workplace democracy.