In this workshop, invited experts from political philosophy and political theory will discuss three major questions relating to personal domination in the labour market.
The Centre for the Study of Democracy (CSD), established in 1989, is based in the School of Social Sciences at the University of Westminster. CSD has a longstanding international reputation for research excellence through a programme of publications, events and collaborations with academics, practitioners, policymakers, activists, and governments. We undertake research across a range of critical social and political challenges, promoting an interdisciplinary intercultural environment to encourage new ways of thinking about knowledge, power and identity in international relations.
Event
In the neo-Roman or neo-Republican tradition, one is understood to be dominated insofar as one is in some sense dependent on the arbitrary will of another. Labour republicans argue that this is the case for wage workers in capitalist economies, as they are at the mercy of their employers. Recent discussions on domination in the labour market have sometimes focused on structural domination. Workers are thought to be dominated not just by individual employers, but by the capitalist structure of society. A potential problem with this approach is that domination is sometimes held to be an interpersonal relationship. Structures, unlike persons, do not have an arbitrary will and can thus not dominate in the same sense that a person can. But the wage relationship arguably exposes workers to personal domination in a narrower sense as well. Wage workers’ productive activity is controlled by their employers, they may suffer arbitrary interferences by their employers, and they must fear being dismissed if they displease their employer in some way.
Some scholars in the republican tradition, however, argue that labour markets and the wage relationship are not inherently dominating. They insist that the offer of a reward in the form of a wage must be distinguished from the coercive force of a threat. Moreover, workers can be provided with exit options, for example in the form of alternative employment or through a universal basic income. Such exit options are said to protect workers from workplace domination by offering them a way out.
In this workshop, invited experts from political philosophy and political theory will discuss three major questions relating to personal domination in the labour market:
- In what sense (if any) do wage workers face interpersonal domination?
- Is personal domination a necessary or a contingent feature of labour markets?
- Which policies (if any) could reduce or prevent domination in labour markets?
Speakers
- Alex Gourevitch (Brown University)
- Tom O'Shea (University of Edinburgh)
- Keith Breen (Queen's University Belfast)
- Philipp Dapprich (University of Westminster)
Funding
This event is funded by the Leverhulme Trust.
Location
Westminster Forum, 5th Floor, 32-38 Wells Street, London, W1T 3UW
