How do anarchists feel about worker-owned businesses?

Question

When I say "worker-owned businesses", I'm talking along the lines of workers democratically and collectively owning, making decisions for, and obviously working the business in a non-hierarchical manner. I've seen a lot of anarchist-friendly printing shops and book stores run this way, along with bakeries, bicycle shops, and even some small restaurants (slow food but I'd be a fat man if I could eat there more often).
I'll do my best to clarify anything that you guys have questions about.

Comments

As you indicate, many anarchists are enthusiastic about these kinds of projects. Others argue that they are simply a capitulation to life under capitalism. Doubtless a variety of other perspectives exist. A great starting place for thinking about this topic is an article by someone named Dot: http://theanarchistlibrary.org/HTML/dot_matrix__Capitalism_means_never_having_to_say_you_re_sorry.html One point she makes that sticks out to me is that these sorts of businesses can serve as a first exposure to anarchy/-ism.

---

great article! it hits on a wide range of pros and cons and different opinions of it

Answer 1

hardass answer: this anarchist feels no way at all about worker-owned businesses.
there are some businesses and fields that are more fun to work in. there are some businesses that teach skills that are more useful in the rest of my life. there are some businesses (or jobs) that introduce me to people who i am more likely to enjoy.
but none of that has anything to do with anarchy or capitalism... only with reform.

not so hardass answer: being able to live our lives more the way we want to (time off to fuck shit up, connecting with people who become good parts of our lives, enough money to work short hours, etc) is a good thing, and  may help make changing the world more do-able.

back to hardass: or it might not.

and the reality of these kinds of jobs tends to be that they require more time, not less, and more commitment and more energy... vs working a job that one doesn't care about and can hence exploit fully.

Comments

i guess the way i see it is if people are willing to put in that extra time, commitment, and energy and not necessarily with more pay then they might be more likely to do it for free and without any coercion; because they like to do it. interesting answer though :)