Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

This paper explores the relationship between gender equality and economic democracy in worker cooperatives in the United States. A specific method for analyzing women’s status in worker cooperatives is proposed. Preliminary findings from a small-scale survey of U.S. worker cooperatives in 2001 are presented, showing that despite the egalitarian nature of cooperatives several gender inequalities persist.

JEL classification: J54, B54, P13

Keywords

gender economic democracy worker cooperatives labor-managed firms democratic firms

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Butler

1990. Gender trouble: Feminism and the subversion of identity. London: Routledge.

Cline

1997a. ACEA panel discussion on cooperative development. Accessed July 25, 1997 at www.glinx.com/users/jcline/ACEA.htm

Cline

1997b. “Untitled.” Accessed July 25, 1997 at www.glinx.com/users/jcline/paper5.htm

Cline

1997c. “Untitled.” Accessed July 25, 1997 at www.glinx.com/users/jcline/Rpt97.htm

Cline

1997d. Worker coop development survey, English version. Accessed July 25, 1997 at www.glinx.com/users/jcline/Esurvey.htm

Collom

2000. Worker control: The bases of women’s support. Economic and Industrial Democracy 21: 211-235.

Conn

1990. No bosses here: Management in worker co-operatives. Journal of Business Ethics 9: 373-76.

Denton

Zeytinoğlu

1993. Perceived participation in decision-making in a university setting: The impact of gender. Industrial and Labor Relations Review 46 (2): 320-31.

Espinosa

Zimbalist

1981. Economic democracy. New York: Academic Press.

10.

Gabriel

Schmitz

2007. Gender differences in occupational distribution among workers. Monthly Labor Review, Bureau of Labor Statistics, June: 19-24.

11.

Grassroots Economic Organizing (GEO) Newsletter. 2000. An economy of hope. Stillwater, PA.

12.

Greenberg

1986. Workplace democracy. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.

13.

Gunn

C. E.

1984. Workers’ self-management in the United States. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.

14.

Hacker

1989. Pleasure, power, and technology: Some tales of gender, engineering, and the cooperative workplace. Boston, MA: Unwin Hyman.

15.

Hacker

Elcorobairutia

1987. Women workers in the Mondragon system of industrial cooperatives. Gender and Society 1 (4): 358-79.

16.

Hoffman

Averett

2005. Women and the economy. Boston, MA: Pearson.

17.

ICA (International Co-operative Alliance). 1995. International Cooperative Information Centre: Topic 2 - Women’s position in society and coops. Accessed January 19, 1999 at www.wisc.edu/uwcc/icic/issues/gender/ilo-ica/module/topic-2.html

18.

ICA (International Co-operative Alliance). 2000. ICA strategy for promoting gender equality (background info). Accessed May 7, 2009 at www.ica.coop/coop/2000-gender-strategy.pdf .

19.

ICA (International Co-operative Alliance). 2008. Strategy framework for equitable gender participation in cooperatives in Africa. Accessed May 7, 2009 at www.ica.coop/Africa/ra2008/2008-ra-gender-framework.pdf .

20.

ILO (International Labor Organization). 1969. Participation of workers in decisions within undertakings. Geneva: Labor-Management Relations Series no. 33. Quoted in Economic democracy, Espinosa

Zimbalist

New York: Academic Press.

21.

ILO (International Labor Organization). 1984. Payment by results. Geneva, Switzerland: International Labor Organization.

22.

ILO (International Labor Organization). 1995. Gender issues in cooperatives: An ILO - ICA perspective. Accessed May 7, 2009 at www.ica.coop/gender/ica-ilo-manual/

23.

Jackall

Levin

, eds. 1984. Worker cooperatives in America. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

24.

Jacobs

2003. Detours on the road to equality: Women, work and higher education. Contexts 2 (1): 32-41.

25.

Jones

Ilayperuma

1998. The determinants of employee participation during fading communism and early transition. In Advances in the economic analysis of participatory and labor-managed firms, vol. 6, ed. Bartlett

Uvalic

Stamford, CT: JAI Press.

26.

Karlsson

1973. Experiences in employee participation in Sweden: 1969-1972. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University, Program on Participation and Labor-Managed Systems. Quoted in Economic democracy, Espinosa

Zimbalist

New York: Academic Press.

27.

Kasmir

1996. The myth of Mondragón. Albany, NY: State University of New York.

28.

Klinger

Hartman

Anderson

Cavanagh

Sklar

2002. Executive excess 2002. Institute for Policy Studies and United for a Fair Economy. Accessed May 14, 2010 at www.faireconomy.org/files/Executive_Excess_2002.pdf

29.

Krimerman

March 7, 2001. Personal e-mail correspondence.

30.

Kroll

2005. CEO pay rates: U.S. vs. foreign nations. Accessed May 13, 2010 at www.cab.latech.edu/~mkroll/510_papers/fall_05/Group6.pdf .

31.

Lohr

1999. Sampling: Design and analysis. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company, Duxbury Press.

32.

Miller

1998. Interviews by author, tape recording, Nova Scotia, Canada.

33.

Miller

1999. Survey of worker co-operatives. Pilot survey conducted by author. United States.

34.

Miller

Cline

1998a. Interviews by author, tape recording, Nova Scotia, Canada.

35.

Miller

Cline

1998b. Interviews by author, tape recording, Prince Edward Island, Canada.

36.

Miller

Gallagher

Unpublished manuscript. Gender equality in non-capitalist businesses: Women’s status in worker cooperatives.

37.

National Cooperative Business Association (NCBA), Washington, DC. Phone conversation with representative. March 1, 2001.

38.

The National Institute for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Education. 2002. www.thenationalinstitute.org .

39.

Nembhard

J. G.

2008. NOTES - Workshop: African American women in worker cooperatives. Accessed May 7, 2009 at www.usworker.coop/system/files/NOTES+African+American+Women+in+Worker+Co-ops.pdf

40.

Oerton

1994. Exploring women workers’ motives for employment in cooperative and collective organizations. Journal of Gender Studies 3: 289-97.

41.

Oerton

1996. Beyond hierarchy: Gender, sexuality and the social economy. Bristol, PA: Taylor & Francis.

42.

Pencavel

2001. Worker participation: Lessons from the worker co-ops of the Pacific Northwest. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.

43.

Smith

2003. Worker co-operatives. BC Institute for Co-operative Studies, University of Victoria. Accessed May 7, 2009, at http://web.uvic.ca/bcics/research/worker/

44.

Sudman

1976. Applied sampling. New York: Academic Press.

45.

Tang

W. F.

1993. Worker participation in Chinese local industries. American Journal of Political Science 37 (3): 920-40.

46.

Theis

Hammond Ketilson

1994. Research for action: Women in co-operatives. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan: University of Saskatchewan Printing Services.

47.

Tolbert

Stern

1991. Inequality in a company of equals: Participation and control in large law firms. In International handbook of participation in organizations, ed. Russell

Rus

New York: Oxford University Press.

48.

University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives (UWCC). 2009. Cooperatives in the U.S. economy: Research on the economic impact of cooperatives. Accessed June 5, 2009 at http://reic.uwcc.wisc.edu/issues.

49.

U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives. About worker cooperatives. Accessed April 30, 2009 at www.usworker.coop/aboutworkercoops

50.

U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives. About worker cooperatives. 2006. Confronting internalized oppression and fostering leadership among marginalized groups. Accessed May 7, 2009 at wwww.usworker.coop/conference2006/content

51.

U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives. About worker cooperatives. 2008. African-American women in worker cooperatives: Then and now. Accessed May 7, 2009 at www.usworker.coop/node/321

52.

Vanek

1970. The general theory of labor-managed market economies. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.

“Gender Trouble”

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References