The Concepts and Practices of Participation, Organizational Democracy and Self-Management in the Futures We Want

Paper investigates changing meaning and popularity of the main concepts constituting the name of ISA RC 10 on participation, organizational democracy and self-management, judged by the content analysis and frequency of their use in relevant sociological research, in the socio-historical context of a contradictory process of transition from proto-socialist state capitalism to full legal restoration of hierarchical and crisis ridden system of world capitalist economy, albeit dominated by emerging new hegemonic strong nation state(s) of the center, on the one hand, and contestation of this restoration in former Third, Second and First Worlds, through perpetual reemergence of social movements attempting to transcend production of exchange values for private profit by social production of use values for development of human capacities of each individual as  condition for simultaneously economic, political, social and cultural freedom, equality and solidarity of all in humanized nature and naturalized humanity.

The main thesis of the paper is that the main difference between concepts and practices of participation of stakeholders in decision making and profits and integral self-management of producers at the work place and consumers in the community from local to global levels of social self-organization, presents orientation on conservation, reform or overcoming of class division of labor on rulers and ruled and its legal expression, private property.

Paper calls sociologists to self-reflection while answering the questions implied by the title of the 3^rd ISA Forum: Who are “we”? What is “better future”? How does our socially structured value orientations on conservation, reform or radical transformation of class division of labor influence all phases of our research and practice of participation, organizational democracy and self-management, bringing about realization of self-fulfilling prophecies?