Private Government

Outline

Private Government (2017) argues that many workplaces function like governments that control workers’ lives in ways people rarely question. Elizabeth Anderson traces how early thinkers expected free markets to free workers, and shows how the rise of large companies changed that picture. She calls for new ways of protecting workers’ dignity, voice, and freedom on the job.

• Many workplaces work like small governments, controlling workers' lives in ways people rarely stop to question.
• Early thinkers expected free markets to free workers, and the book traces how that expectation took shape.
• The rise of large companies changed the picture and weakened the early hope that markets alone would free workers.
• Anderson argues that freedom and democracy should extend into working life, not stop at the office door.
• She calls for new ways to protect workers' dignity, voice, and freedom on the job.

Elizabeth Anderson is an American philosopher and professor at the University of Michigan who writes about equality, democracy, and ethics. She is known for her work on social and political philosophy and has received a MacArthur Fellowship. Her books include The Imperative of Integration, Private Government, and Hijacked.