Denise Faifua

Democratic reason and practice: repositioning community aspirations

Purpose – This paper seeks to complement the work on community unionism by arguing criticality is the core human capacity required to convey and share experiences of community.Design/methodology/approach – An over emphasis on historical materialism and a fetish with dialectics in critical theory more generally has had an impoverishing impact on understandings of the democratic reason and practice which offers the potential to reinstate communal values and democratic reason in individuals, organisations and society writ large. More recently, these limitations have led some writers to critically reflect on ways in which to reinstate communal values and democratic reason in individuals and in society writ large.Findings – Only by conceding to the communal value of criticality and in particular the value of critical consensus in organising and the employment relationship will it be possible to bring community and indeed unions back into play.Originality/value – A crucial point is the shift from conflictive em...

Broader rationalities and alternative forms of organisation : Sociological insights into social strategic action

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to argue that the legacy of instrumental rationality has had a profoundly impoverishing effect on rational accounts of organisation, and that even though non‐rational accounts move beyond instrumental rationality, they remain tied to economist assumptions. The paper outlines the broader Weber and Habermass model of rationality, and demonstrates its application.Design/methodology/approach – Drawing on verbatim quotes from a sampling of 35 in‐depth interviews, the paper reveals the range of very different rationalities expressed in the social relations of work, of four very specific types of organisation: a bureaucracy, an entrepreneurial unit, a producer co‐operative and a worker co‐operative.Findings – The paper outlines two ideal sets of findings, ideal in the sense that in two of the organisations the rationalities, social relations of work and associated outcomes fit well with the Weber and Habermas model of instrumental strategic action and social strategic acti...