Doctoral Dissertation Research: Secure Work in the Worker-Cooperative Sector

本项目将研究纽约市不断扩大的工人合作社部门。 本研究将探讨三个问题：1）相关利益相关者如何看待工人所有权; 2）市政对工人合作社部门的投资如何影响工人合作社运动; 3）工人所有权对劳动保障的影响。通过这项研究，将更好地了解工人及其社区面临的问题，包括社区对工人经济福祉的重要性。 还将进一步了解，当外部行为者参与促进工人的自主努力时，这些努力可能会发生什么变化。 这反过来又将使我们了解如何在地方、区域和国家各级制定政策，以支持创造安全就业。 第一阶段将包括与纽约市合作社组织领域的不同行动者进行半结构化访谈，观察合作社部门的活动，并进行档案研究。 受访者将包括有目的抽样的工人合作社的工人业主、社区经济发展专业人员、合作社联合会和宣传组织的领导人以及地方政治代表。 在第二阶段，将分析两项相关的调查，即2017年工人合作社普查和综合社会调查的三个与工作相关的模块。这项研究的成果，包括一份关于纽约工人合作社部门的报告，以及在合作社部门会议和社区经济发展活动上的演讲，将提供给不同的受众，包括社区经济发展组织，地方、区域和国家各级的经济发展政策制定者，劳动力市场各部门和技能水平的工人，该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project will study the expanding worker cooperative sector in New York City. Three research questions will be investigated: 1) how relevant stakeholders conceive of and view worker ownership; 2) how municipal investment in the worker cooperative sector affects the worker cooperative movement; and 3) the effects of worker ownership on labor security. Through this research, issues facing workers and their communities, including the importance communities have for workers' economic well-being, will be understood better. Understanding of how workers' autonomous efforts may change when external actors become involved in promoting those efforts also will be increased. This, in turn, will inform our knowledge of how policies at local, regional, and national levels may be developed to support the creation of secure employment.Research will proceed in two phases. The first phase will involve semi-structured interviews with different actors throughout the field of cooperative organizations in New York City, observations of cooperative sector events, and archival research. Those interviewed will include worker-owners from a purposive sample of worker cooperatives, community economic development professionals, leaders of cooperative federations and advocacy organizations, and local political representatives. In the second phase, two relevant two surveys will be analyzed, the 2017 Worker Co-op Census and three work-related modules of the General Social Survey. The products of this research, including a report on the New York worker-cooperative sector and presentations at cooperative-sector conferences and community economic development events, will be accessible to a diverse audience including community-based economic development organizations, economic development policymakers at the local, regional and national levels, workers across labor-market sectors and skill levels, and academics.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.