Call for Papers

Call for short papers (pdf)

The study of democratic organizing in social movements is a longstanding and vibrant research field (Della Porta & Rucht, 2013). Studies have addressed the participatory processes in social movement organizations, how they are used by activists, and the conflicts, dilemmas ,and tensions which can result from democratic decision-making in movements (Laamanen et al., 2019; Maeckelbergh, 2011; Reinecke, 2018). In this sub-theme, we want to expand on such classic studies through a focus on the roles movements and alternative organizations play in enacting and strengthening democracy in the economy and in society at large.
 
In recent years, issues of economic democracy (Cumbers, 2020) have been revived by a series of social movements (and their offspring), in particular by alternative organizations that prefigure horizontal and more participatory economic structures. In their prefigurative organizing (Schiller-Merkens, 2024), these organizations often draw on and innovate from classic forms of democratic organizing such as consumer cooperatives or workplace democracy. At the same time, new fields and forms of democratic organizing emerge, for instance in food and agriculture or in the digital data economy.
 
For this sub-theme, we invite both theoretical and empirical contributions that study initiatives of democratizing the economy “from below” through the angles of social movement theory, alternative organizations and prefigurative organizing. Submissions to our sub-theme could for instance tackle the following list of indicative, but not exhaustive, topics and questions:

• The democratization of the economy is often pursued through transformative politics from below by alternative organizations that prefigure inclusive, horizontal and participatory forms of organizing and thereby attempt to change the economy at large (Chertkovskaya et al., 2023; Schiller-Merkens, 2024; Shanahan, 2024; Zanoni et al., 2017). For example, in the arena of food and agriculture, prefigurative initiatives such as food policy councils, community supported agriculture, consumer-owned retailers or food co-ops democratize this sector by bringing about inclusive and participatory forms of organizing food production, distribution, and consumption (Bornemann & Weiland, 2019; Goodman et al., 2012; Motta, 2021). Interesting questions both for the food and other sectors include: What struggles do organizations like these face in democratizing their own work processes and how do they address them? How do they contribute to democratizing the broader economy and which conflicts do arise?

• Furthermore, organizations that prefigure an alternative economy are often part of broader social movements. What is the relationship between both, or between prefigurative and contentious politics? Which role do social movements play in processes of the social transformation of the economy?

• Both other businesses and state actors can be important allies in the social transformation of the economy, able to foster or impede its further democratization. What is the relationship of prefigurative movements and organizations to politicians, public agencies and municipalities in processes of democratizing the economy? What are the relationships between institutional politics and prefigurative politics, and how are these organized? How are more mainstream businesses and organizations in the economy involved in or reacting to the collective democratization efforts of prefigurative initiatives?
• Over recent years there have been calls to strengthen worker participation in decision-making practices in firms (Battilana et al., 2022). Workplace democracy in worker-owned or worker-managed businesses as well as worker co-determination in corporatist settings are ways to strengthen economic democracy. Workplace democracy has been associated with positive outcomes for workers and can also constitute a potential avenue towards more sustainable forms of production (Webb & Cheney, 2014). At the same time, research on alternative organizations has also shown that they often face difficulties in market environments, that they struggle with their internal democratic processes, and that democratic values may erode over time (Cheney et al., 2014; Laamanen et al., 2019; Reedy et al., 2016). We invite (comparative) studies on organizing democracy at work and its outcomes, case studies on worker autonomy movements, as well as research on workplace democracies that empirically and critically addresses their dynamics over time.
• Processes of economic democratization are also driven by consumers. We welcome studies on consumer democracy, that is, consumer participation that goes beyond individual forms of activism (such as political consumerism) by involving consumers in collective participatory projects that seek to democratize both consumption and production (e.g., co-ops, sustainable community movement organizations) (Brown, 1985; Forno & Graziano, 2014). What different types of organizations exist in this realm, how is consumer participation organized within them, and what kinds of consumer participation do they enable? How does consumer participation change economic practices of such cooperative retailers? Do consumer cooperatives transform their environment and if so, how?
• Economic democracy in the digital realm is an increasingly important topic in an economy characterized by platform power. Platform cooperatives (Scholz, 2016) have been advocated as an alternative to this. What forms of democratic participation do platform cooperatives enable? Under which conditions can platform cooperatives constitute viable alternatives to conventional platforms? Furthermore, democracy in the digital economy is also related to issues of open data or data democracy. One core feature of digital capitalism is widespread data collection and use by digital companies. Calls for data democratization come from social movement actors seeking to regulate, collectivize and democratize the collection, access and use of digital data through a “contentious politics of data” (Beraldo & Milan, 2019). How do social movements attempt to bring democracy into the setting of the digital data economy? What alternative forms of collectively and democratically controlled data management exist?
• While the majority of research has focused on left-wing alternatives and movements, right-wing, populist activism is increasingly putting our democracies at risk. Which alternative organizations and social movements mobilize against democracy particularly in the economy, through which tactics and networks, and with which effects? How do, if so, economic organizations (mainstream businesses, corporations, alternative organizations) and social movements in the economy mobilize against right-wing activism and with which effects on the democratization of the economy?

References

• Zanoni, P., Contu, A., Healy, S., & Mir, R. (2017): “Post-capitalistic politics in the making: The imaginary and praxis of alternative economies.” Organization, 24 (5), 575–588.
• Webb, T., & Cheney, G. (2014): “Worker-owned-and-governed co-operatives and the wider co-operative movement. Challenges and opportunities within and beyond the global economic crisis.” In: M. Parker, G. Cheney, V. Fournier, & C. Land (eds.): The Routledge Companion to Alternative Organization. London: Routledge, 64–88.
• Shanahan, G. (2024): “Two routes to degeneration, two routes to utopia: The impure critical performativity of alternative organizing.” Organization, 32 (4), 489–507. https://doi.org/10.1177/13505084231223639.
• Scholz, T. (2016): “Platform Cooperativism. Challenging the Corporate Sharing Economy.” New York: Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung, https://open.coop/2016/01/15/platform-cooperativism-challenging-the-corporate-sharing-economy/.
• Schiller-Merkens, S. (2024): “Prefiguring an alternative economy: Understanding prefigurative organizing and its struggles.” Organization, 31 (3), 458–476. https://doi.org/10.1177/13505084221124189.
• Reinecke, J. (2018): “Social Movements and Prefigurative Organizing: Confronting entrenched inequalities in Occupy London.” Organization Studies, 39 (9), 1299–1321.
• Reedy, P., King, D., & Coupland, C. (2016): “Organizing for Individuation: Alternative Organizing, Politics and New Identities.” Organization Studies, 37 (11), 1553–1573.
• Motta, R. (2021): “Social movements as agents of change: Fighting intersectional food inequalities, building food as webs of life.” The Sociological Review, 69 (3), 603–625.
• Maeckelbergh, M. (2011): “Doing is Believing: Prefiguration as Strategic Practice in the Alterglobalization Movement.” Social Movement Studies, 10 (1), 1–20.
• Laamanen, M., Bor, S., & den Hond, F. (2019): “The Dilemma of Organization in Social Movement Initiatives.” In: G. Ahrne & N. Brunsson (eds.): Organization outside Organizations: The Abundance of Partial Organization in Social Life. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 293–317.
• Goodman, D., DuPuis, E.M., & Goodman, M.K. (2012): Alternative Food Networks: Knowledge, Practice, and Politics. New York: Routledge.
• Forno, F., & Graziano, P.R. (2014): “Sustainable Community Movement Organizations.” Journal of Consumer Culture, 14 (2), 139–157.
• Della Porta, D., & Rucht, D. (eds.) (2013): Meeting Democracy. Power and Deliberation in Global Justice Movements. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
• Cumbers, A. (2020): The Case for Economic Democracy. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.
• Chertkovskaya, E., Hasselbalch, J.A., & Stripple, J. (2023): “Assembling a Zero-Waste World: From Situated to Distributed Prefiguration.” Organization Studies, 45 (2), 297–318. https://doi.org/10.1177/01708406231200726.
• Brown, L.H. (1985): “Democracy in Organizations: Membership Participation and Organizational Characteristics in U.S. Retail Food Co-Operatives.” Organization Studies, 6 (4), 313–334. https://doi.org/10.1177/017084068500600401.
• Bornemann, B., & Weiland, S. (2019): “Editorial: New Perspectives on Food Democracy.” Politics and Governance, 7 (4), 1–7, https://doi.org/10.17645/pag.v7i4.2570.
• Beraldo, D., & Milan, S. (2019): “From Data Politics to the Contentious Politics of Data.” Big Data & Society, 6 (2), https://doi.org/10.1177/2053951719885967.
• Battilana, J., Yen, J., Ferreras, I., & Ramarajan, L. (2022): “Democratizing Work: Redistributing Power in Organizations for a Democratic and Sustainable Future.” Organization Theory, 3 (1), https://doi.org/10.1177/26317877221084714.
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