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Labour process and decision-making in factories under workers' self-management: empirical evidence from Argentina

Loughborough University Business School, m.atzeni{at}lboro.ac.uk

Pablo Ghigliani

Universidad de La Plata, Argentina, pablo.ghigliani{at}gmail.com

This article focuses on the process of workers' self-management brought about by a wave of factory occupations, which has taken place in Argentina in the last few years, with the support of preliminary evidence from qualitative fieldwork conducted in four factories.The aim of the article is to explore the dynamics of the decision-making and the re-organization of the labour process in the light of the constraints imposed on self-management by market mediations. The act of occupying a factory gives room to workers' control of the labour process and to a more democratic, collective decision-making, but workers' need to compete in the market reduces the sphere of collective decision, leading to centralization of power and divisions between directive and productive workers, hampering the possibility for workers to enrich their job and avoid self-exploitation.

Key Words: Argentina • decision-making process • factory occupations • workers' self-management • work re-organization

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Work, Employment & Society, Vol. 21, No. 4, 653-671 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/0950017007082875


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This Article Abstract Free Full Text (Free PDF) Free Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Atzeni, M. Articles by Ghigliani, P. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?