Petutschnig, Fabian

Economic democratization results from political intervention or from workers taking control of production - at least this is the common understanding of how economic democracy can come about. Consumers are seen as influencing economic processes more indirectly: either by creating incentives for producers through aggregate consumer choices, or by exerting pressure through the formation of interest groups and social movements. However, consumers can - and often do - actively participate in the democratization of the economy: They come together and form consumer-owned businesses to democratically organize their supply of goods and services. This paper introduces the notion of "consumer-driven economic democracy" to understand how consumers' collective self-organization can democratize market relations. Combining economic sociology and organizational studies, it draws on the literature about commoning and prefigurative organizing. The paper proposes a twofold process. First, consumer-owned businesses democratize the economy by implementing democratic organizing practices within their organizations. Second, these democratic practices help to transform practices beyond their organizations, by transforming relationships with and practices of supply chain actors. Empirically, the paper draws on preliminary data from ethnographic fieldwork conducted in two consumer-owned and participatory supermarkets in Berlin. The paper renews academic discussions on economic democracy, the commons, and prefigurative organizing by bringing consumers to the fore. Its findings also have societal relevance by empirically informing current socio-political debates about "needs-based economies" and food democracy as responses to contemporary environmental and social challenges.