The theory and practice of self-management in Algeria
The central aim of this thesis is to evaluate the viability of a self-managed organisation in a socialist economy using Algeria as a test case. More specifically it concentrates on appraising how far the stated aims of the government's charter of 'Socialist Management of Enterprises' have been translated into practice, through the case study of a fairly representative Algerian organisation in the steel industry. In the first part of this thesis the concepts of power and participation are related by arguing that a power approach to participation is necessary if there is to be a better understanding or any systematic analysis of workers' control, whether at national or international level. Moreover, by analysing models of workers' participation in operation in three other countries (Germany, France and Yugoslavia) in conjunction with Algeria, some promoting and inhibiting factors to the development of workers' control have been identified. It is shown that some aspects of participation irrespective of national conditions tend to reproduce themselves. Results from the Algerian case study suggest that the Algerian model is still very far from the claimed objective of power equalisation. However, some successes in terms of educating a newly industrialised workforce and involving it in participatory procedures has been achieved. It is concluded that the major reason why attempts at democratising the decision making process have been unsuccessful is that, model builders, simply grafted a participatory structure onto a traditional one. Indeed whenever there is juxtaposition of hierarchical and democratic structures the first one seems to win out.
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