Current Sociology

Please welcome our Sociologist of the Month for July 2024, Kristin Wiksell (University of Gothenburg, Sweden). Her article for Current Sociology Friends against capitalism: Constructive resistance and friendship compliance in worker cooperatives, co-authored with Andreas Henriksson (Karlstad University, Sweden) is Open Access.

Kristin Wiksell

Could you please tell us about yourself? How did you come to your field of study?

K. Wiksell: Both in my personal and professional life, I have been interested in group dynamics and power relations, ever since my teens, really. Initially, I planned to become an HR professional, but my studies brought me to Sociology and Social Psychology and I was hooked. After bachelor’s and master’s degrees, I continued towards a PhD in Sociology when I merged my interests by researching social relations in work organizations. I currently work as a senior lecturer at the Department of Sociology and Work Science, Gothenburg University, Sweden.

What prompted you to research the area of your article, “Friends against capitalism: Constructive resistance and friendship compliance in worker cooperatives”?

K. Wiksell: My specific research interest on friendship and resistance in worker cooperatives actually began when I saw a documentary on economic democracy and became intrigued. What does economic democracy in terms of workers’ joint ownership of an organization mean for the social relationships in the workplace, and in relation to the surrounding society? The lack of empirical research on the practical organizing of worker co-ops in Sweden – in frequency a rare but increasing organizational mode – motivated me to an empirical exploration. The specific themes of friendship and constructive resistance to capitalism came forth as analytical categories based on qualitative field work of observing co-op meetings and interviewing members of worker co-ops.

What do you see as the key findings of your article?

K. Wiksell: That social relationships such as friendship can be mobilized as a tool to build egalitarian organizations as resistance to capitalism prefigures alternatives to capitalist organizing, as done by the worker co-ops in the study. Still, such workplace friendships are not devoid of power relations and can prompt individual compliance for the benefit of the organization, similar to, but not the same as how capitalist businesses might induce friendship as a tool to reach economic goals.

What are the wider social implications of your research in the current social climate? How do you think things will change in the future?

K. Wiksell: That how we organize ourselves has significance and can function as constructive resistance by prefigurating ways of organizing society in wider terms. The realization of specific organizational forms can spread knowledge on ways of organizing that are possible but maybe not apparent or thought of. At the same time, it is important to be aware of both pros and cons of different organizational forms and routes to social change. In deliberate social movements, this knowledge is generally widespread. I believe such insights will (have to) enter the field of business to a larger extent – if we dare to look beyond economic profit as the ultimate goal and think and act sustainably in terms of social, environmental and economic aspects from a local and global perspective on human rights.

Do you have any links to images, documents or other pieces of research which build on or add to the article? Or a suggested reading list?

K. Wiksell: Link to the full text of my PhD thesis which builds on and adds to the article: Wiksell, Kristin (2021) Organizing for Social Change: Worker Cooperatives as Resistance to Capitalism. PhD dissertation, Karlstad University, Sweden, https://kau.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2%3A1541526&dswid=-3495.

Link to the documentary on economic democracy which spurred my research interest, “Can we do it ourselves?” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfaFriFAz1k, from 2015 by Patrik Witkowsky, Jesper Lundgren, André Nyström and Nils Säfström. Distributed in cooperation with Fria Tidningar Media Cooperative.

Francesca Polletta’s book has been another important inspiration for the article: Polletta, Francesca (2002) Freedom is an Endless Meeting: Democracy in American Social Movements. The University of Chicago Press.