New forms of political action: the case of companies taken over by their employees

Abstract

Framed in Communitarian Social Psychology, this study examines the Argentine experience of worker takeovers. Such takeovers had their origin in the crisis that the country faced in the late 90s. We analyze what the takeover meant to the workers in terms of their subjective identity. Their collective action presents an alternative to the usual triad of rights: to exist, to work, and to receive support. It displays new forms of agency and resistance to unemployment and its negative social labelling. Focussing on two workers' cooperatives, we examine the main changes in individuals' identity, in their organization among themselves, as they try to survive in the market. Finally, we examine points of contact and difference between these workers' struggles and new social movements in their relation to community and State.