Previous studies of worker-owned firms claimed that participatory democracy
only thrives in small, homogeneous groups. This article focuses on
a successful 30-year-old worker-owned company with more than 200 employees
to explain how broad and deep democratic control, a large workforce,
and member diversity are brought together. Drawing attention to its
combination of training, infrastructure, compensation for management
functions, and workplace culture, I argue that an equitable distribution of
power and resources does not require hierarchical management, friendship
relations, size limits, or member homogeneity. The article highlights the
need for greater scholarly attention to worker ownership possibilities for
the current multiracial and multicultural working population.