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16 - Why (Which) Workers Often Oppose (Which) Democracy?

from Part IV - Country and Regional Perspectives

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 January 2022

By
David Ost
Edited by
Angela B. Cornell  and
Mark Barenberg
Angela B. Cornell
Affiliation:
Cornell University, New York
Mark Barenberg
Affiliation:
Columbia University, New York
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Summary

The chapter looks at the relationship between workers and democracy over time, discussing how different workers (skilled and unskilled) relate to three different concepts of democracy (political, egalitarian, and formal-institutional, or Democracy I, II, and III). I argue that while there is a strong link between workers and Democracy I, the association frays with respect to full inclusion of all citizens and the autonomy of institutions. I then reflect on the alternative trajectory of Poland’s Solidarity union: an energetic proponent of Democracy II and III during state socialism, which after the state’s embrace of neoliberalism became a chief supporter of current right-wing efforts to undermine those aspects of democracy. In the end, capitalist societies give many workers “rational” reasons to oppose Democracy II and not care about Democracy III.

Keywords

working classdemocracyracismclassPolandSolidaritypopulismbargaining power
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Labor and Democracy , pp. 263 - 278
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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