USA – available online

Harvard Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation workshop organized by the Harvard Kennedy School, chaired by Archon FUNG, with Isabelle FERRERAS, Julie BATTILANA (HKS/HBS), Benjamin SACHS (HLS), and Sharon BLOCK (HLS)

Title: « Workers in the covid pandemic. What should we learn? »

Webpage description:

« COVID-19 is amplifying a fundamental democratic mismatch: the vulnerable, often low-income and of-color, workers who are among the most affected by this pandemic have little influence over decisions — in companies and governments — about how this pandemic is managed.

Julie Battilana and Isabelle Ferreras led the drafting of an open letter titled “Work: Democratize, Decommodify, Remediate” that recently appeared in some 36 newspapers in 25 countries including the Boston Globe, The Guardian, Le Monde, and Die Zeit. More than 3,000 scholars, including Dani Rodrik, Elizabeth Anderson, and Thomas Piketty, signed it. Ben Sachs and Sharon Block argue that Congress should create joint employer-labor commissions to govern how key sectors such as transportation, grocery, health care, logistics, and transportation re-start and manage infection control in workplaces.

Join us as we discuss these proposals – and more – in order to democratize the workplace and empower workers in the time of COVID-19.

Participants include:

  • Julie Battilana, Harvard Kennedy School
  • Sharon Block, Labor and Worklife Program, Harvard Law School
  • Isabelle Ferreras, Université Catholique de Louvain
  • Benjamin Sachs, Harvard Law School
  • Archon Fung (Moderator), Harvard Kennedy School

This event is part of the Democracy and Justice During Pandemic virtual series.« 

Image credits: Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation logo, available on the webpage