From the dawning of the industrial epoch, wage earners have organized themselves into unions,fought bitter strikes, and gone so far as to challenge the very premises of the system by creatinginstitutions of democratic self-management aimed at controlling production without bosses. Withspecific examples drawn from every corner of the globe and every period of modern history, thispathbreaking volume comprehensively traces this often underappreciated historical tradition.Ripe with lessons drawn from historical and contemporary struggles for workers’ control, Ours toMaster and to Own is essential reading for those struggling to create a new world from the ashesof the old.
Immanuel Ness is professor of political science at Brooklyn College, City University of New York, and edits WorkingUSA.
Dario Azzellini is a writer, documentary director, and political scientist at Johannes Kepler University in Linz.