Autonomy at Work: a Normative Evaluation of Employees’ Position in the German Codetermination System

Autonomy, as an individual precondition and goal of democratic governance, should be one of the core concerns of a democratic society, including its sphere of work. The German codetermination system is often seen as best example of existing institutions that realize democratic values in the capitalist market economy. Therefore, the question is to what extent the German codetermination system is capable of realising employee autonomy at the workplace. This dissertation examines and compares the institutions in question along different types of legal employment relationships and analyses them against a relational concept of autonomy as put forth by Anderson and Honneth (2005). In this way, the analysis sheds new light on the social patterns in the workplace that are embedded in the German legal system and the risks that they pose to the autonomy of employees. It also contributes to a new perspective on the current state of the German codetermination system and the risks and opportunities that recent social, technological and economic developments create for the viability of its institutions and for the implementation of democratic values in the workplace.