Changing work realities : creating socially and environmentally responsible workplaces

Given the task of discussing future workplace practices to further the common good, we were at first daunted by the current trends driven by powerful economic forces, which we describe in the first section. Like most leftist social scientists, we turned to look at government and intergovernmental bodies to moderate corporate behaviour, thus in the second section we reflect on how the workplace would be managed for the environment and social capital if governments had the ability, and the will, to manage workplace behaviour within a capitalist system. Although these are nice thoughts, we argue that this is an unlikely scenario. In the third section we examine potential alternatives to the current dominant paradigm: that is, workplaces that operate outside capitalism. Our argument is that these alternatives do already exist, albeit in comparatively small numbers, and provide flexibility for companies to contribute to the common good because they are freed from the tyranny of the need for growth. The development of alternatives needs to blossom now to demonstrate the potential for change and give hope for meaningful work to those rejected by, or rejecting, the capitalist workplace. Finally, we find hope in the trends to re-localisation whereby local communities focus on the resources at hand to generate work and fill their needs. We are not arguing for a return to parochialism however, because local places are now connected to the world through the internet and are thus part of global networks. However, local dependence requires fostering and growing our human and social capital and cherishing our environmental capital, thus building workplaces for the common good for people, and the natural world.