Ben Waber reviewed Private Government by Elizabeth Anderson
A Provocative But Shallow Philosophical Work
3 stars
Anderson is at her strongest in the first lecture of this volume, where she interrogates 18th and 19th century economic thought to show why it doesn't apply to modern conditions. Unfortunately she then completely falls flat in the way most philosophers do: arguing theoretically about what are fundamentally empirical questions. In a nutshell, she posits that modern companies are in fact a powerful form of government that requires different regulations. Her description of how companies function is, to put it mildly, divorced from reality and indicative of a lack of engagement with real work, workers, and data collection within organizations. This is not to say that some of her points aren't important - indeed, we certainly need stronger worker protections, higher wage levels, and other reforms. The commentary by other academics here is decent, but it's still woefully lacking in real world grounding.
Anderson is at her strongest in the first lecture of this volume, where she interrogates 18th and 19th century economic thought to show why it doesn't apply to modern conditions. Unfortunately she then completely falls flat in the way most philosophers do: arguing theoretically about what are fundamentally empirical questions. In a nutshell, she posits that modern companies are in fact a powerful form of government that requires different regulations. Her description of how companies function is, to put it mildly, divorced from reality and indicative of a lack of engagement with real work, workers, and data collection within organizations. This is not to say that some of her points aren't important - indeed, we certainly need stronger worker protections, higher wage levels, and other reforms. The commentary by other academics here is decent, but it's still woefully lacking in real world grounding.
