Worker Cooperatives, Law and the State

Date of Award

2009

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Social Sciences

First Advisor

Mink, Joseph

Keywords

Worker Cooperative, Labor, Law

Area of Concentration

Political Science

Abstract

Studies show that worker cooperatives, workplaces which are democratically owned and run by their workers, are more productive in many situations than traditional firms. They garner support from individuals on the right as well as the left. And yet they are comparatively rare. Traditional explanations of the distribution of worker cooperatives vis a vis traditional firms rely on internal structural factors or assumptions of external bias. The role of the state in shaping, sustaining, or destroying worker cooperatives is downplayed or neglected altogether. To the extent that the state is considered, at least in the United States it is often assumed that the state has simply been hostile to an organization which might be seen as "socialist." This study, focusing on the United States, demonstrates that there has been a long and complex relationship between worker cooperatives, law, and the state. It shows that the federal and state governments have alternately promoted and discouraged worker cooperatives in the United States, and that through the courts, the plywood cooperatives of the Pacific Northwest secured major tax benefits for all worker cooperatives. The existence of this relationship does not offer a complete explanation for the existing distribution of worker cooperatives, but it does suggest new policy options and paths for future research.

Rights

This bibliographic record is available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication. The New College of Florida, as creator of this bibliographic record, has waived all rights to it worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law.

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