New forms of cooperatives are emerging especially in the service sector and are thus contributing to the differentiation of labor market organizations. In this context, non-standard employment such as solo self-employment, but also temporary work, is particularly relevant and the need for supporting mobility is correspondingly high. So far, there is no sociological classification of cooperatives as labor market organizations considering the increase of non-standard employment. Labor market organizations are organizations that engage in the staffing of work and workers, the negotiation of working conditions and contracts, and the representation of interests, with particular attention to forms of promoting members’ interests and participation.
The main objective of this project is to develop a theoretical understanding and conduct empirical research on economic democracy in cooperatives. The project will focus on identifying and analyzing new forms of cooperatives in various service sectors characterized by non-standard employment, and examining the structures and dynamics of both direct and indirect economic democracy. The findings will be discussed in the context of changing labor markets, thereby providing a comprehensive understanding of the subject. We will take a closer look at cooperatives as new labor market organizations. Specifically, we will explore their goals and purposes, the expectations of members, how they organize individual networks, balance the relationship between cooperation and competition among members, and how they can be distinguished and classified from traditional employer organizations and political membership organizations.
The empirical basis is a qualitative interview study that combines the perspectives of various actors. The study will include experts and professionals from different fields such as low- and medium-qualified services (e.g., care, transport services), and highly qualified services (e.g. medicine, consulting). The empirical investigation includes three components: (1) expert interviews with individuals at the strategic organizational level and with representatives of cooperatives, (2) guideline-based problemcentered interviews with members from different employment statuses, and (3) expert interviews with representatives of other labor market organizations. These qualitative interviews are supplemented by mapping the field of cooperatives and other labor market organizations based on existing databases and document analysis.
The project aims to contribute to organizational and labor market sociology as well as industrial relations research by theoretically exploring and empirically examining the structures and dynamics of cooperatives as a new form of labor market-related economic democracy.
