PISCATAWAY, N.J. – The Rutgers Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing has announced the William Foote Whyte and Kathleen King Whyte Book Prize, an award recognizing significant contributions to the advancement of economic democracy.
This year’s award recognizes two shared winners. Additional works were recognized with honorable mentions.
Shared Winners
Democratizing the Corporation: The Bicameral Firm and Beyond was edited by Isabelle Ferreras, Joel Rogers, Tom Malleson, with contributions from 12 authors. In the volume, leading experts on corporate behavior from multiple disciplines respond to a proposal to democratize the private firm through bicameral governance by establishing a chamber of worker representatives to share governing power with the board of directors, which represents the interests of owners.
Employee Ownership in the Americas: A Path to Shared Prosperity edited by Gonzalo Hernández Gutiérrez and Rodrigo Zuluoaga Fernandez Del Valle with contributions from 19 authors, is a collaborative effort of academics, researchers, and professionals from the U.S., Mexico, Peru, Argentina, France, Spain, and Colombia. The case studies and information presented demonstrate that broad-based employee ownership not only achieves better job performance in large companies and small businesses, but also aligns with other trends that are becoming the new normal, such as shared capitalism, corporate responsibility beyond shareholder primacy, and community wealth creation.
Books recognized with Honorable Mentions in 2025 were:
- The Banker Ladies: Vanguards of Solidarity Economics and Community-Based Banks by Caroline Shenaz Hossein
- We Can Govern Ourselves: A Book About Economic Democracy (Vi kan styra oss själva : en bok om ekonomisk demokrat) by Patrik Witkowsky
- Using an Employee Ownership Trust for Business Transition by Anne-Claire Broughton, Courtney Kemp, Alison Lingane, Christopher Michael, Corey Rosen, Stacey Smith, and Steve Virgil
- OWN: Turning Every Citizen Into A Productive Capital Owner by Gary Reber
A panel of distinguished judges reviewed all nominated works, and each judge submitted an independent recommendation.
This prize is supported by a perpetual endowment at Rutgers University’s School of Management and Labor Relations. It is awarded in alternating years in honor of William Foote Whyte & Kathleen King Whyte, and Joyce Rothschild.
The 2024 Joyce Rothschild Book Prize recognized:
Shared Winners
Cooperatives at Work by George Cheney, Matt Noyes, Emi Do, Joseba Azkarraga, Marcelo Vieta, and Charlie Michel, explores real examples of worker-owned businesses, showing how they create fairer workplaces, give employees more control, and challenge traditional ideas about ownership and the economy.
Own This! How Platform Cooperatives Help Workers Build a Democratic Internet by R. Trebor Scholz, explores how workers can make use of digital platforms, creating fairer alternatives to big tech companies. Through real-world examples, the book shows how platform cooperatives—businesses owned and run by workers—are already reshaping industries and giving people more say in how technology impacts their lives.
Books recognized with Honorable Mentions in 2024 were:
- Co-operative Struggles: Work Conflicts in Argentina’s New Worker Co-operatives by Denise Kasparian
- Cooperation: A Political, Economic, and Social Theory by Bernard E. Harcourt
- Create Amazing: Turning Your Employees into Owners for Explosive Growth by Greg Graves
- Humanity @ Work & Life: Global Diffusion of the Mondragon Cooperative Ecosystem Experience by Christina A. Clamp and Michael A. Peck
