Androcentrism and democracy Women’s experiences within cooperatives

This paper explores the intersection of gender and democracy through the lived experiences of women in worker cooperatives. Its primary objective is to analyze how democratic governance (within cooperatives) is experienced by women. It situates worker cooperatives within broader debates about the promises and limitations of democracy as a system of governance. Often understood as 'governance by the people,' democracy is assumed to embody universality and equality. However, feminist scholars have argued that democracy, as it is traditionally conceived, is shaped by androcentric norms that present the male perspective as universal, alongside masculine practices that prioritize hierarchical, exclusionary, and competitive dynamics, systematically marginalizing women from meaningful participation in political and organizational power structures .
Worker cooperatives, as key entities in the social economy, operate under democratic principles such as "one person, one vote" rather than the plutocratic principle of "one share, one vote." These organizations are often viewed as spaces of emancipation, particularly for women, due to their inclusive discourse on democratic governance and gender equality . However, prior research reveals a striking paradox: despite their egalitarian ideals, cooperatives reflect broader societal inequities, with women overrepresented among employees and volunteers but underrepresented in governance and leadership roles . Factors such as gender stereotypes, unequal access to opportunities, self-censorship, and the challenges of balancing professional and familial responsibilities hinder women’s ability to fully participate in decision-making processes . These barriers point to the persistence of masculine norms embedded in democratic structures, where formal equality often obscures deeper gendered hierarchies. This study seeks to unravel these contradictions by examining how women experience (masculine) democracy within worker cooperatives.
Adopting an interdisciplinary stance, the research integrates management and organization studies with political and social sciences to investigate the relationship between gender and democracy. The methodology follows a phenomenological approach , emphasizing women’s subjective perceptions and experiences to uncover the implicit structures of democratic practices in cooperatives. Data collection includes semi-structured interviews with women workers in 15 Belgian worker cooperatives, ensuring diversity in industry, organizational size, and age. To provide a deeper, more nuanced understanding, the study also incorporates photo elicitation , a qualitative technique that employs visual prompts to evoke emotional and subjective insights. This method helps capture the ways in which social constructions of democracy, rooted in male-dominated norms, shape women’s realities in these spaces.
The contributions of this research are multifaceted. First, it provides an original lens to academic discussions on gender and democracy by connecting feminist critiques with organizational practices in cooperatives. Second, it highlights if and how androcentric ideals and masculine governance structures persist in cooperative decision-making. Finally, the study advances feminist research by amplifying women’s voices, highlighting their agency, and contributing to broader societal change.
Bates, Elizabeth A., Joseph J. McCann, Linda K. Kaye, and Julie C. Taylor. ‘“Beyond Words”: A Researcher’s Guide to Using Photo Elicitation in Psychology’. Qualitative Research in Psychology 14, no. 4 (2 October 2017): 459–81. https://doi.org/10.1080/14780887.2017.1359352.
Battilana, Julie, Julie Yen, Isabelle Ferreras, and Lakshmi Ramarajan. ‘Democratizing Work: Redistributing Power in Organizations for a Democratic and Sustainable Future’. Organization Theory 3, no. 1 (1 January 2022): 26317877221084714. https://doi.org/10.1177/26317877221084714.
Dessy, Elodie. ‘Le genre, angle mort de l’économie sociale ? Recommandations et pistes d’action pour une approche genre dans l’économie sociale en Région wallonne’, 2022. https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/297733.
Ferree, M.M. ‘Democracy and Demography: Intersectional Dimensions of German Politics’. Social Politics 28, no. 3 (2021): 532–55. https://doi.org/10.1093/sp/jxab016.
Fung, ARCHON, and ERIK OLIN Wright. ‘Deepening Democracy: Innovations in Empowered Participatory Governance’. Politics & Society 29, no. 1 (1 March 2001): 5–41. https://doi.org/10.1177/0032329201029001002.
Guérin, Isabelle, Isabelle Hillenkamp, and Christine Verschuur. ‘The solidarity economy through the lens of gender: A critical and possibilist analysis’. Revue Francaise de Socio-Economie 22, no. 1 (28 May 2019): 107–24.
Pateman, C. The Disorder of Women: Democracy, Feminism, and Political Theory. Stanford. Calif.: Stanford University Press, 1989.
Qu, Sandy Q., and John Dumay. ‘The Qualitative Research Interview’. Qualitative Research in Accounting & Management 8, no. 3 (1 January 2011): 238–64. https://doi.org/10.1108/11766091111162070.
Sanders, Patricia. ‘Phenomenology: A New Way of Viewing Organizational Research’. The Academy of Management Review 7, no. 3 (July 1982): 353. https://doi.org/10.2307/257327.