Toward a Marxist Theory of Labor-Managed Firms: Breaking the Degeneration Thesis

Abstract

The idea that worker cooperatives are at best diversions from class struggle or, at worst, destined to turn into capitalist enterprises is common among the Marxist left. Such a position, however, is the product of an undialectical reading of Marx's comments on cooperation. A dialectical analysis finds that labor-managed sectors succeed in preserving their democratic, cooperative character to the extent that they are connected to a history of class struggle. This conclusion is reinforced through a comparative review of labor-managed sector history and performance within mediated and unmediated advanced capitalist economies.