Gender and Technology at the Mondragon System of Producer Cooperatives

Abstract

Mondragon is known as a system of democratically structured producer cooperatives, yet the condition of women workers is only somewhat better, relative to men, than in capitalist or already existing socialist organizations. Three major factors appear responsible. First, waged or not, women have responsibility for the home. Second, a capitalist market devalues social goals. Third, and the primary topic of this paper, men control decisions about technology, commonly understood. As in other industrial settings, the manufacturing technology of the cooperatives, and much of their administrative apparatus, have origins in patriarchal military institutions. Engineering education, also with roots in military institutions, is one source of gender maintenance during times of technological transformation. This hierarchical organization of technology stands in contradiction to the ideology and core elements of cooperative structure.

Sexualizing the Organization, Lesbianizing the Women: Gender, Sexuality and ‘Flat’ Organizations

“…Furthermore, it is highly significant for feminist analyses that sexuality can be shown to attach at the level of the organization, as well as at the level of individual bodies or life-styles, an argument hitherto unacknowledged both in the feminist literature which 'adds on' lesbians in the workplace (Hall 1986;Schneider 1988;Squire11 1989;Taylor 1986) and in the feminist literature on women workers in co-operatives and collectively run projects in the voluntary sector (Brown 1992;Fried 1994;Wajcman 1983). Even in some of the most groundbreaking work on gender and power in co-operative organizations, the articulation of sexuality at the organizational level is left relatively untouched and unanalysed and only gender is given attention (Hacker 1988(Hacker , 1989. This article on the other hand, claims that in the case of women's co-operatives and collectives generally, and in the case of those that are women-only in particular, not only gender but also sexuality is deeply implicated both in terms of the discursive marginalization and the material survival and success of such organizations.…”

“…; Ltd. 14% S EXUAl.IZ1NG THE ORGANIZATION ZY might involve can be explored through the work of feminists who have developed some of the threads of post-structuralism to produce some rich and dynamic theoretical work in the field of organizational analysis. For the purposes of the arguments presented here, the work of Acker (1990) and Hacker (1988Hacker ( , 1989) is particularly important. Acker (1990) argues that organizations are arenas in which both gender and sexuality have been obscured through gender-neutral, asexual discourses.…”

Inequalities in democratic worker-owned firms by gender, race and immigration status: evidence from the first national survey of the sector

“…Indeed, case studies and historical work demonstrate that women, immigrants and people of color have often turned to cooperatives as a respite from systemic injustices against these groups in capitalist labor markets (Akuno and Nangwaya, 2017;Bell et al, 2018;Gordon Nembhard, 2014;Hill and Julia, 2012;Oerton, 1994;White, 2018). Yet studies have also highlighted the persistence of inequalities in worker-owned firms (Hacker, 1988;Hacker and Elcorobairutia, 1987;Meyers and Vallas, 2016;Oseen, 2016;Sobering, 2016;Sobering et al, 2014). We contribute to this literature by leveraging the first robust national survey about the workplace experiences of individuals in democratic worker-owned firms to test for inequality by gender, race and immigration status in the sector and provide evidence on its causes.…”

“…, 2018; Gordon Nembhard, 2014; Hill and Julia, 2012; Oerton, 1994; White, 2018). Yet studies have also highlighted the persistence of inequalities in worker-owned firms (Hacker, 1988; Hacker and Elcorobairutia, 1987; Meyers and Vallas, 2016; Oseen, 2016; Sobering, 2016; Sobering et al. , 2014).…”