Labor Self-Management: Is It Consistent With Rawls?

Abstract

Is labor self-management (LSM) an element of a just society?  The goal of this essay is to succinctly delineate John Rawls’ scheme of justice and to demonstrate how LSM is consistent with Rawls’ ethical system and criteria.  In fact, LSM will be shown to be superior to conventional hierarchical firms—from both an efficiency perspective and as measured by Rawls’ ethical criteria.  Rawls’ “A Theory Of Justice” (1971) was selected as the benchmark because it is arguably the most widely cited and discussed ethical explanation for democratic capitalism.